A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing
by Kaimaler
Summary: The attack on Shiganshina gave birth to a new titan shifter, someone wholly inexperienced with the idea of the walls and those within them. After the wall fell, her wild titan tore into the people of Shiganshina before she had her awakening. She survived with the memories of the lives she destroyed and tries to give back to the families she ruined. Possible [ErwinxOC]
1. Fall of Shiganshina - Updated

_The Wolf's Lie_

* * *

 _Mostly cause I could and I felt like it. Very ill at home, no tools to speak of, so writing was top of the list. :x_

 _I hope this is decent, I've read all of Shingeki no Kyojin, so I'll work by the world rules that I can, otherwise I'm not against bending the rules of the universe to make the story plausible. I was never big on sticking to ALL the rules, only because if you wanted purity I assume you wouldn't read Fanfiction, because... Fanfiction doesn't like to play nice with rules of a universe. However, I won't make stupid shit happen haha_

NOTE: _This is a quick introduction to the character and the world around her, I don't feel the need to explain the world around because we all know what it's like. For now, this will follow our character through the very beginning of Attack on Titan, in 845 when the Titan's attacked._

 _Any details following her adventures, how she survived, what she did will be explained in further detail later on in the form of conversations with other characters, flashbacks, and moments of reflection._

 _I consider these snips from her life as "_ Means to an End _" and further detail will be provided once the story has begun._

This story will eventually see a rewrite as it is unpolished and just whatever is off the top of my head. I hope you guys like it!

* * *

Shiganshina was in ruins. She was there to see it, the homes and shops crushed by boulders from the shattered wall, the wild titans devouring anyone unfortunate enough to be too close to the breach. People screamed and ran, cried and pleaded for a savior. It was indiscriminate slaughter, no matter the gender or age, they met the same agonizing fate.

It was a horrible sight to witness, blood painted every surface she saw. She had even watched a large titan collapse a bridge and fall into the river below, it was enough to submerge a close smaller titan, but not enough to stop the bigger one from advancing on the people. It was scary watching the sheer determination of the titans, how they _needed_ to reach their goal, the food running from them.

She leered over the people from the rooftops, her hands grasping the edges of the building, her breath heavy and excited. As the titans across the river caused the people to flee to her direction, she leapt into action. The force behind her jump enough to crack the sides of the building, the roof tiles shattered from the weight, and the ground beneath her shook as she landed. Turning to see the crowd beside her stop and gasp, her wide animalistic smile stunning the people. With a deep inhale, her roar bellowed out through the streets and secured the fate of the people desperate to escape. She lunged at the people in front of her with her mouth wide open, people ran in all directions, a few she hit with her body, injuring enough to distract her from the escaping crowd.

Some were unlucky and were caught in her massive jaws, when her body stopped moving, her mouth crushed anything in her teeth and she swallowed what she could. More would come, she was lucky, they were not. She needed more, it wasn't what she wanted, what she searched for. The remaining body parts and limbs falling from her teeth, she turned around and caught sight of the people she lunged into, people she landed on top of were dead, others with shattered bodies, all served her purpose. Her elongated limbs reached out for those still alive and unable to run from her. From there, she had her own private feast, other titans in the area too busy following the other people who made it away from her waiting jaws.

All anyone could hear was screaming, the groans of titans, and the collapsing buildings. It was a real mess, she had a small hand in it even though the plan that caused this was not of her doing; her part was to cause chaos.

During the attack on Shiganshina, she took her own toll on the people there, but her acts against the innocent people of Shiganshina were as grotesque as the rest of the titans. Her constant and merciless slaughtering of the people in the city was carried out mindlessly, she was _wild_ , without sentient thought. She was just as bad as the rest of the titans.

She had seen her fair share of the military that resided within the walls, what is known as the Garrison and Survey corps. A few tested their luck with her and a few failed, they classified her as an Abnormal Titan, her actions did not line up with the average titan and as such, she was targeted differently. This was not something she understood, only something that threatened her. All she knew is what was in front of her face and that she wanted them, they spun around in front of her, appearing to glide in the air without wings. It was good for her that the Garrison had not fought a titan in a long time, many of them had never even seen a titan and those that had, only saw them wander outside the walls harmlessly. This gave her a great advantage.

Her wild movements, her speed and flexibility, made it near impossible for the inexperienced Garrison troops to narrow in on her nape. She ran through the streets alternating between her feet and four legs, the first that attacked her had been unable to hook onto her for a clear shot. A team of two soldiers had managed it later on, but had not the foresight to check the area for other titans that lurked behind buildings and one met their fate, eaten alive by a titan smaller than herself; the other escaped to fight another day. There had been other attempts, only one having any semblance of success.

As she hunted for more, smelling the air gingerly, she picked up the scent she was looking for, but did not see it coming. Like the others, it danced in the air, spinning and weaving through her hands. It was smarter than she was and she had no idea. It was a fresh recruit to the Survey corps, newly trained gave this person sharper skills than the older, less agile Garrison troops, but still lacked the experience and confidence needed to survive a large Abnormal titan. None of this made it into her head of course, she hunted, she ate, she wandered; this is all she did. This was something she wanted, she wanted to stop it from cutting her, it aggravated her.

The wide toothy smile on her face twitched, began turning into a scowl, not enough to be truly noticeable. She was enraged, wild, and tired of this flying thing whipping around her head. Her arms hindered the man, he knew he couldn't get close enough to her nape with her hands constantly reaching for him. He needed to handle the obstacle before going in otherwise he'd end up dead.

He was scared, he understood that fear. He didn't want to die, but he was distraught by all the death and suffering around him. It was too much, this was his first day out of training. He wanted to be in the Survey corps with his friends, he wanted to learn how to fight a titan outside the walls. He wanted to feel what it was like outside the walls to begin with. Tense and terrified, he made his first move.

The titan wailing and swinging at him gave him too much of an opening when it reached high for him, one hand near the ground, the other resting on a roof. She was hunched over, still trying to find him and stop him when she felt the slicing pain in her right arm. A powerful and precise stoke of twin blades successfully severed her right hand entirely. She howled, she still was unable to catch him and now she was missing a hand.

With his first attack down, he felt pride. This titan wasn't so tough, he managed to cut the hand off and he never took a hit. He could _do this_.

Feeling newfound bravery inside, while the titan struggled to catch him, he aimed to dive for her last hand. This hit, if successful, would allow him to cut into her nape and be done with another terror of humanity. His ego cried that he could go back to his friends claiming victory over a large Abnormal titan. He wanted to do this, for all the people that died, and to prove himself ready to be a part of the Survey corps.

The titan stopped moving, the missing hand made it difficult to run on all fours, she leaned to the side, huffing and angry. Her eyes searched hungrily for the offender, she heard so much noise, so much action, that it was nearly impossible to find the right source.

A quiet _zip_ , snap, and there, below her lumbering body, he swung. Her upper body weight was leaning on her left hand, when he made his strike, she allowed herself to fall directly on top of the poor soldier. She heard him call, she felt two long, sharp stings inside her mouth. The blades piercing through her face, the screaming. Rocks and rubble from her fall onto the man had stuck between her teeth, it took a significant amount of force that slowly crunched the rubble before she finally heard him cry out.

And then there was silence. The damage done to her body had only barely begun to heal. She could barely move, she couldn't open her mouth, the blades having stuck in her jaws, and the lower half of the man hung from the strings he shot into her mouth in a final attempt to flee. Things became dark, her body gave out, and she fell to the ground.

* * *

 _What- where am I?_ Her body felt heavy, restrained. She groaned and struggled to move. It was not possible to escape without knowing what was around her. She had to see what she was dealing with in order to find a way to get out.

Though her eyes were burning, she managed to open them and, after a few slow blinks, they began to focus.

In front of was a massive nest of golden hair. She would have thought it was the fur of an animal or something else, but the way it waved in the wind, the messy locks was undeniably hair. _That's an impossible amount of hair for one person..._ She tried to shake her head of those thoughts and found her face was being held down by some odd tough material that was attached to her face and around her eyes.

She wanted to remove it, but looking down to her hands she realized they were also held by the same substance. A panic set into her chest, worried what was going to happen if she could not tear herself out of this mess. Was there other people out there, could they help? Were other people in her situation?

 _Why can't I remember how I got here?_

In her panic her adrenaline to get out of these strange restraints helped give her to energy to start struggling. She pulled against the restraints, steam began rising out of the red material around her. First she managed to free her right hand and immediately went to tear at the material around her face.

With a pained cry, it tore off of her as if it was part of her own skin. It hurt to tear any of it off, but she needed to be free of it. She felt trapped, as if something might come after her. _Did someone put me here?_

Steam began rising in great clouds. When she managed to tear the strange material away and stood on the surface, she began to recognize the mass below her.

In disbelief, she carefully navigated down the edge of what she was restrained too. It was massive, whatever it was, and hot to the touch. She slid down the side and could make out stones beneath her feet. Many were cracked and uneven, it was hard to walk on in the dark. The sun was already setting, it was dark enough to make walking on uneven ground difficult. She took it slow, walking around the odd platform she had been on. She wanted to know what it was.

Before she managed to reach the front, she was startled when the stones she walked on started sticking to her feet and she felt a definite shiver up her spine.

Looking down, she lifted her foot and looked at the bottom. _Red_? She balked, _What the hell is this?_ She had a dreadful feeling in her stomach, it made her sick, but she did her best to ignore it.

Slowly, she continued stepping around the broken stones, watching where she stepped. She did not want slip on... the red liquid.

Eventually she made it around the edge of this mysterious object, the red liquid was getting thicker, it was impossible not to touch it. She was around the front of this giant object, but something else caused her to pause.

It was not a great discovery, only one she tried to not face. Below her, through the building steam, was broken body. It was a man, nearly torn from the rib cage up. He was torn, but not entirely. His features were crushed and she gagged. There was no smell she could pick out, but the sight of this corpse made her sick. She held her hand over her mouth, trying to block out the image.

She was too close to the object beside her, she had to be standing back to see the whole picture.

Refusing to look down anymore, she cautiously reversed away from the body and the object beside her. Surely the image made itself clearer, the man on the ground, the blood surrounding him, the broken stones and rubble scattered around.

Even through the steam rising she made out the unmistakable features of a giant face. The mouth was crooked, the broken jaw giving it this terrifying appearance of a monster. The eyes were open, staring ahead into nothing. The long blonde hair flying in the wind, the impossibly wide open mouth, and the limbs strewn about giving it this animalistic, desperate, appearance.

The steam was still rising, it was getting thicker every minute and eventually the monster behind it was fading from view.

She remembered. She remembered Shiganshina. Her death toll was enough to make her sick now; it was done by a raging beast, not a living person. She looked back on those dark memories, able to apply her own conscience to her actions, but in truth her titan was wild and acted without reason, it just so happened to save her. It cost so many lives that she did her best not to think about it. Their lives were not worth her own, considering how many people she ate.

As far as she knew, from that untamed creature, she emerged and survived enough time to make it outside the walls. Shiganshina was not safe, the titans there wanted to eat her now. It was a dangerous time, it was hard to find a way to live outside the walls.

A few years had passed from then, she made her choice and it was time to pay those people that died to her back.

Her first job was to get inside the walls. Luckily, she had some tools that made it possible to do just that.

It was going to be a hard life from this point, she had no real memories aside from being that beast. She had no name, no family, no one, and nothing to lean on. Common sense told her that she would have to keep a low profile considering she came from the body of a titan, one she was in control of and people hated these giants. With reason, but she did not believe herself to be one.

In the process what clothing she wore was torn with it. A minor concern, but she had a feeling she would want more clothing if she wanted to survive the next few days with other titans nearby.

She is human now, nothing out there had seen her yet, which she considered to be a miracle, but that would not last forever. She needed to leave if she wanted to make it.

There were plenty of buildings around to hide it, but she remembered smelling humans. It was possible to track people without finding a physical trail. She would have to find a better way to survive than from 'door-to-door.'

* * *

 _Little over a year later..._

* * *

The city was interesting. Positively bristling with activity, people from all around the walls, walking, running, buying, playing, talking, _alive._ It was riveting to experience the world, see the business all around her. Life was a wonderful, intriguing, and spectacular thing. She loved how wild it was, there was so much life just rushing around. It was clear that suffering was evident, people starved, the poor struggled day to day, but it was better than living with the titans around every corner.

She felt safe, even though she knew it would be fleeting. After so long in titan territory, she worried that someone would find out who and what she is. She is a titan, she has that strength in her, and she is a big titan. In her own boasting mind she feels like she is a dangerous titan, to be feared, but knew in reality so many would stand against her, the soldiers that is, that even as a titan she would be killed before she had the chance to retaliate.

Instead she kept to the shadows, hoping to avoid any unnecessary meetings with local law.

To be careful, she hid her gear near the wall, buried in a cloak she took off the dead in Shiganshina. Her clothes were unclean, she had not bathed nor found any clean clothes to wear and was stuck with the same clothes she tore up on her awakening from her titan body. In short, she looked homeless, poor, and destitute.

This appearance did not bother her in the slightest, but the wealthy were beyond question, the poor were investigated. She did not look threatening, but she was worried about being mistaken as a thief or panhandler. She needed decent clothes and a way to wash off the smell and dirt, otherwise, someone might was to remove her from view.

Without an understanding of currency in the city or how to earn it, she was stuck. Her desperation drove her to wandering the city, looking for anyone willing to give her a job, something she could do to earn her keep and stay away from authorities.

It was hard navigating the city, there were so many streets to explore, so many places to go and all the structures looked amazingly similar.

Her search started with the most basic places she could think of. A bakery, a local market, a small farm, anything she could try. It was usually the same answer.

She had no idea how to bake, those marketing in the streets did not need to hire people to sell for them, especially someone they did not trust. Farming was the same thing, she could not farm, she had no worth if she did not have the skill already.

It was frustrating, she knew nothing about the jobs she needed, she could not find anyone willing to train her. She could not blame the people, it seemed as though everyone was struggling to get by. Perhaps the major factor is shared between not having the skill and them not having the means to hire help. She needed a way around it. She did not want wealth, she wanted clothes and food. More than she was getting by nabbing what she could away from the rations.

Refugees filled the city, it was a mass flooding of people when Shiganshina went down. She learned that the outer wall fell with it. It was a lot of people and a lot of land lost. People died already from the struggle, terrifying things had happened under the government and she had not been there to see it.

For now she fought for her survival inside the city, knowing that the titans outside the city turned against her once she became aware. It was disturbing to see the titans coming after her, but that gear she took saved her life more than once. She needed it, the poor soldier she had eaten did not need it. Still, she felt gross taking the gear off a corpse.

With a heavy sigh, she decided thinking about her time outside the walls was only going to hurt her for time.

She spent a long time wandering outside the city, she saw a handful of people that looked at her, most people avoided her. Today was a bit more unique. She was getting her ration for the day, they were given to all refugees, but food was scarce and they all received very little to survive. Her previous size was reduced within the first few months, she was never very big, but now she narrowed down significantly and it made her all the more determined to find someway to live.

There were old, ill, young, babies, families, all starving, begging for food. They had no way to support themselves as the titans had crushed and conquered their home entirely. They only took with them their family and clothes on their backs to escape.

At the very far part of the plaza was a young boy, crying with a hat in his hands, it was far too big for him, it must have belonged to someone he knew. It was some time from Shiganshina, if this kid was just mourning a death from that city he sure waited a long time to do so. He had friends nearby it looked like, other kids, there were no adults around them. She assumed them all orphans.

She frowned deeply, taking a bite of her bread. She was part of that attack on Shiganshina, she took away peoples homes and lives. She knew, somewhere in this city, there are families she tore apart by eating their loved ones. It hurt to think about it, she struggling to eat the little food they gave her when all she thought about when eating was the crunch of human bones in her jaws, the screams of the people around her, in her mouth, fighting and begging her for mercy.

Quickly, the idea and sight of any food made her sick. Every bite of bread crunched and crackled, imitating the sickening sounds of bones. She had two bites before she felt sufficiently ill, it made her too sick to eat it.

She had to eat eventually, she assumed a bite or two a day would keep her alive long enough to find a better option. Her eyes skimmed the walls, she walked around the outside of the crowd trying to receive their rations. She was searching for that kid.

When she found the three sitting against the wall talking, having finished their bread. She knew they ate already, but she had no need of her food. In a city stricken with starvation, it should be a crime to toss perfectly good food away.

Growling, she hated talking to people. She wanted to be away and done with it. Sucking in air, she marched over to the three children and stood directly in front of them.

Looking up confused, they were going to ask her what she was doing when she held out the bread in her hands.

It was a mixture of shock and confusion, she was handing it to the blonde boy who appeared to be in mourning. She would hope that he could mourn without hunger pains at the very least.

"What?" He politely took it from her hands very cautiously. "Why?"

After he took it, she walked away, not answering the children. She was never good with kids and did not plan on adopting orphans when she could not support herself. It was a gift, that is all she wanted to do. They were here from the attack on the walls, they deserved better, just as every other refugee did. There was no way to help them all, she wanted to, but she had to start from the ground up first.

* * *

It had been a few weeks and she resorted to stealing for food a lot more. She did receive her rations, but found herself giving them away more than she did eating it herself. Bread, crunch, did not please her. She stole vegetables, not always the best ones, but anything to escape the grotesque feeling of chewing on human bones.

She knew stealing food was petty, especially when rations gave her food already. She had to eat and that bread was not edible to her. The cloak was perfect timing though, she needed it to hide how poorly maintained her own clothing was. She felt incredibly fortunate that the blood of titans would eventually fade into steam after a short time. Not to mention the scars on her body.

There were lines that the sinew of the body she emerged from left on her skin, the scars, she feared, were permanent. After only a day or two, the scars disappeared and she wondered if anyone knew what they would mean regardless.

This little escape she allowed herself nearly got her in trouble as a result, this was expected. She had a plan though, she learned of the Underground. She learned that the gear she had stolen was worth a lot, not only that, but they were bought on the black market to more professional robberies. It was a path she could take, she could learn how to steal as a job or she could sell the gear in hopes of earning enough to live off of. For a short time.

She had a few things of her own now, while clothes were not an option yet, she was able to 'relieve' someone of their heavy cloak. It was not the best quality, it was dirty, dark brown, and had a few tears in it. Perfect for someone like her, clearly poor, so it was believable to have that bad off of a cloak.

It was hard to decide though, to sell the gear or become a criminal. It was impossible to find work, it was impossible to make anything through begging, and she could not survive off of what she had for much longer. She grow physically weaker, she was tired, it was hard to live with the constant pain of hunger.

This would take time to decide, it was a dangerous risk and she knew it. She had to think what options she had. If she practiced she could be very good, but it was a life on the run to be a criminal like that, she would have to hide forever. However, to sell the gear all she needed was a way to do so, after that she would have her money and be on her way. It was only a temporary answer though, that would not support her forever and she would have to find another answer eventually.


	2. Goals

_The Wolf's Lie_

* * *

 _That was quick background, any and all details will start soon enough. No worries, there's an explanation for how she survived. It's not all random. ;)_

* * *

First she equipped the gear she had taken off the dead soldier and wrapped the cloak around her. It hid the gear well enough to not be spotted with it, she knew from the people of the city it was illegal to own this gear without the right to. It belonged to military personnel only and she had to be gentle with it. If she damaged it she had no way to repair or replace it.

It was barely becoming day, people only just now began to wake up and begin their day. Shops readied their inventory for sale and carriages just now rode through the streets delivering goods and people all around.

She kept to the back streets, straying the business of day. Being caught with this equipment would ruin most of her plans. If she is really good she could get through the city without being noticed and start her work. She still had enough energy to live off of, her trips outside the wall have kept her fresh. Her self training was going well enough to keep her on her toes.

Occasionally she scavenged from other dead soldiers outside the wall. She realized her gear was limited to the gas in her tank. With enough attempts and nearly giving up entirely, she learned how to work it.

The gear was not the only thing she practiced. She wanted to train her titan more, practice utilizing it in the moment. Often, when she found isolated titans, she would try her hand at killing them. It was very difficult and spurred many tries with many titans. How does one kill a titan? They regenerate, you cannot kill them conventionally.

It took her some time to figure it out, after this time she connected the dots between herself and the wild titans. The soldiers can kill titans and she realized that she was close to the skin of her titan. She was connected to it, but if someone did enough damage to her neck, it would kill her. After this, she quickly figured out how to kill a titan. Her weak spot was the same as theirs.

She used whatever she could do handle them from that moment on, she could tear them apart with her hands, stomp them to death, bite the back of their neck. Whatever worked. She fought, practiced, and when she felt she was done she fled to the trees and resorted to the gear. It was a relatively safe trip, considering her titan was a larger variety of titan and that her intelligence gave her a great upper hand.

These trips helped her understand her position better and better. She worked hard, gathered more skill with the gear, and her experience as a titan helped her understand herself. She is a titan, but she is human now too. She had to share that balance. Were other titans like her? Were there only specific ones?

She had no idea how she came to be, why she was also human now. She settled on that it would take a smarter person than herself to figure out these answers.

* * *

She could not believe herself.

Here she was, listening to the group of people beside her talking about enlisting.

She had the gear on her hips, her cloak hiding the gear she intended on using. She cared about the refugees, she wanted to give back. It was clear the rich were corrupt and she wanted to help. Starvation in the face of the wealthy and still they manage to eat well. It was maddening to watch the rich get fatter and the refugees that lost their homes suffer slowly until they finally lose.

A classic steal from the rich and give to the poor situation. It was not the cleanest way to survive, but it was a way she had access too. If she did not act soon she would be caught stealing food or worse. If this was her only option it was better than the alternatives.

And yet... staring into the passage into the Underground, she hesitated. The Underground was harder to manage, the police did not regulate it as well and hiding there would be much easier than stealing on the surface than finding somewhere to hide. It is a giant city for sure, but she was less experienced with her gear and they were trained professionals. It was a bad match. She did well against titans, she doubted she would do as well against people using the same tools.

"More kids marching off to fight those _things_. I wonder how many will join the Garrison once their training is over." A larger man with dark hair and a bushy mustache spoke, his tone suggesting disapproval.

"If they're smart that's what they'll do... But there's always so many that don't." A woman answered, sighing deeply. "It's a shame to see so many young boys and girls so enamored with the Survey corps that they'll rush off before thinking. Such a shame indeed."

Another man huffed, "What has going beyond the walls ever done for us? We lose countless of our children, mothers, and fathers for what? They have never come back victorious. Every time they leave I feel bad for them, those kids have no idea. Shiganshina and Wall Maria should've reminded people why we stay in these walls in the first place!" He scratched his beard, obviously he felt strongly about the military.

"And those that go to the Military Police, they know the right choice. Serve the king and stay in these walls! The Garrison has enough sense to stay here. Why do we even need the Survey corps? They should just be disbanded so the trained soldiers can fight for our walls, not charge outside and die." The woman rolled her eye, she sounded so haughty that it made her skin crawl just listening.

 _Military..._ She thought, staring into the dark tunnel off to the Underground.

"You know they'll never do it, those cold hearted bastards think they're giving humanity hope by going out there. That our survival is outside the walls." He laughed dryly. "How ridiculous. We're safe in these walls, this is where humanity belongs."

Her fist tightened, she eyed the gear on her belt. _I have the tools, I have the skill. Be a criminal or fight with the law?_ She grinned, it was an obvious answer. She wanted to work with the people, not against them. Though the extravagantly wealthy did not deserve their feasts and luxuries, she still wanted to serve the people. Try and give back what she could, even if it meant dying in the process.

And dying while trying to save others, that seemed like a good way to try and repay the people she murdered.

She walked up to the group chatting, rested a hand on the shoulder of the woman. "You'd think Shiganshina and Wall Maria would remind you that life inside the walls is not as safe as you thought." She left quickly, hoping that they would at least consider her meaning before judging the Survey corps so quickly.

She knew they watched her leave, they disliked her answer, possibly more than they disliked her listening into their conversation. They changed her mind though, she was going to join the military and that was that. She wanted to fight, perhaps being able to fight the titans would help make this world safer so that they really could live with comfort instead of constant fear.

First though, she had to obtain citizenship.

She was unsure how to begin, her first step lead her to the infirmary. She had to convince them of her memory loss and, while she was experiencing it, she would tell them the attack on Shiganshina caused this. If she kept to her story she might be able to sell it and see what she had to do to obtain citizenship through medical reasons. This might get her citizenship without having to pay or risk being caught as someone from outside the walls.

She walked through the back streets cautiously, arriving back at the wall to hide her gear again. Wrapping the pieces carefully in the cloak, she placed it back in the hole and covered it. The bushed in front hit the disturbed earth and made her feel it was highly unlikely anyone would just discover it.

Once that was done, she made her way back into town, able now to walk through the streets without worry of being caught. It was not a wealthy section of the city, so she managed to avoid suspicion wearing old rags.

The infirmary was thankfully easy to find. She needed only to walk down the main streets to find it. There were street signs to help people who were searching anyways, once she entered, it was clear this infirmary was quite full.

"Can we help you, miss?"

She jolted, the sudden and quick appearance of this man startling her. She was certain there was no one near her, he appeared out of no where. "Ah- yes. I need to talk to someone. I'm... I'm from Shiganshina."

The man's features softened, "I see, it's been quite some time since Shiganshina. Please," He gestured her to follow him. There was a cot with a chair beside it, she figured he thought she had injuries of some kind. She sat on the cot and he pulled the chair up beside her. "What seems to be the problem? I guess from the time between Shiganshina and now, this must be a financial issue."

She shrugged, "A bit. I can't afford treatment, so I never came before. I need help now and I can't avoid it anymore." Thankfully, the man offered her a kind smile.

"It's okay. I helped treat people from Shiganshina and Wall Maria, I myself am from a village in Wall Maria. We were close enough to evacuate before seeing the titans came. Shiganshina was the first to be hit, I know you were not so lucky." He leaned forward, almost as if pretending his next words were secret. "I don't charge refugees. Most of the doctors in town don't either." He winked at her.

She was relieved, "Thank you. I have nothing to my name. All I have are these clothes, I've been living off of rations and-" She shook her head, "-And just barely surviving."

"Don't mention it. I couldn't possibly sleep at night knowing I turned away the refugees. You lost everything, I can't ask you to give me something taken from you." He rested in his chair, crossing his legs. "So why don't you start by telling me your name?"

She shifted in her spot, "That's the issue, I can't." He raised a brow at her answer, "I have no idea who I am. I know I was in Shiganshina-" She gulped, "-Soldiers saved me. I saw the attack, the titans, I remember escaping. Since then, I haven't been able to remember a thing."

"Memory loss?" He hummed, "I admit I haven't handled it myself, but I have heard of rare cases. People who have suffered an injury to their heads or witnessing a trauma can experience this." He adjusted his glasses, seeming uncomfortable. "... It's possible seeing the titans, what they do as they attacked Shiganshina, caused this kind of a reaction. You might have saw something especially heinous and blocked it out."

"Is there a way to recover my memory?" She was a little hopeful, but knew it would not help with her citizenship.

"Sometimes people have remembered things, an event, something familiar, some _one_ familiar. This might trigger it, but we still don't know enough about it to guarantee that we could help you reclaim lost memories." He appeared a little disheartened. Running a hand through his hair, "I can't give you your memory back, I'm not experienced enough with this situation."

She waved off his disappointment, "All I need is citizenship. I want to join the military, I want to help. I can't without it."

He felt genuine surprise at her answer. "After witnessing what happened to Shiganshina, being at that point, you still want to join the military to fight them?"

"Yes, maybe I can help. I have no life on the streets, I live day to day, starving and struggling for any quality of life, but all I've wanted to do is join the military. I want to do something worth while. I need my citizenship, but without a name I can't do it." Her goal was set, only to convince him and hope for the best. He was kind, generous; it looked as though her story had already won him over. After all, who doubted the people from Shiganshina? Many refugees lived in poverty and the poor were often misunderstood by the successful as being hand and hand with thieves and criminals. This doctor did not appear to give into the same sentiments.

"Of course, I can help with that. There is a system in place to help people who have no memory, as we do have records of this happening, lucky for you. I can make contact with the right people and get back to you." He stood from his chair, "If you would, return here tomorrow evening. I can help you."

She was a bit nervous, but she was stuck for now. Perhaps this man was trustworthy and could help her reach her target, which would be nice, definitely deal with all her worries. If he could do as he said he would, she would do as he asked. It was better than roaming the streets hoping that he got through with her citizenship. Regardless of her trust, she would have to come back and see him again anyways to find out if she could enlist or not.

"I'll be back tomorrow, when it gets dark. I don't want to get in the way of your work, these other people need you more." She turned to leave, the man grinning at her. "Thank you again, for all your help."

 _I don't trust him, but I need him._ With a deep sigh, she moved on to find someplace to rest for the night. She felt anxiety bubbling up in her chest, hoping that this would work, that he was telling her the truth. Getting her citizenship was the first real step forward she had taken.

Surviving on the scraps left by from the ruins outside the walls was easier than living inside them. That is, considering she had no money. She was sure it would be better if she could work, but everyone else was on the same level as she was. Desperate to make a living, only they had to go home and feed families, she only needed food and shelter for herself.

No doubt the next few weeks leading up to enlistment would be the longest yet.


	3. Good Soul in a Dark World

_The Wolf's Lie_

* * *

 _All these are currently chapters filling the void. When the training begins and Trost happens, details will begin to form. No worries, there's a reason everything seems so short and choppy. :D_

* * *

She stood outside the infirmary, it was getting late now, she would go in to find that doctor she spoke to any minute now. Her only concern was if he was actually going to help her or if he wanted anything from her.

People did not seem bad in this city, just struggling to get by. She was smart enough to understand that the individuals had to look out for their own, but that did not mean they were against her. She was here looking out for herself and hoping this would all go smoothly. If she could get help, than her enlistment would be so much smoother. If not and she could no obtain citizenship, she would handle things on her own.

This was preferable, she wanted a simpler way. This man helping her would save her the struggle of living on the outside of the walls. She was seriously considering trying to steal and redistribute wealth, but learning more about the military woke something far more prideful in her. She stole to survive, but she wanted to help people in the bigger picture. Titans were the threat, not political or financial corruption. It was clearly prevalent in this city, but she wanted to do _good._ In a very classic way.

She wanted to be a hero, fame and recognition did not matter to her, the act of helping others at this critical time was what she wanted. She would not mind resorting to thieving to survive, she simply would prefer not to anymore.

Once it was sufficiently dark enough, she crossed the stone street and entered the infirmary. Nervous and anxious to get this over with, she started looking for the doctor she spoke to. He had dark hair, tall, and glasses. Not very specific, but she did not get his name. She was not thinking that far ahead. This was a means to an end, she wanted to move on with her life.

After searching the large open building, she saw nurses, families, sick, doctors, but not the one she was looking for. She was able to spot the soldiers who were injured in the back, their section was divided by a large curtain. They had many things wrong, clearly they were losing some of them, the way the doctors were handling the soldiers, the way the families cried. Some of them were missing limbs, she could not be sure of how, but she feared the reason why.

She spied on one family, sitting with a younger man. He had black hair, well built. He had a bandage over one eye and no right leg at all. There was blood staining the cloth, the nurses already in there trying to handle it. He did not resist, neither did the family, but he was too focused on being there with them to really address the nurses who, to their credit, did not seem to mind in the slightest.

"He's a part of the Survey corps. He's lucky to be alive, most of them die out there." She jumped and spun on her heel, behind her was the same doctor from the day before. He chuckled at her fright. "It's okay, I promise I won't try to eat you."

Her eyes remained focused, unblinking. He cleared his throat, "Sorry, bad joke."

With a shrug, she crossed her arms. "What can I do to get myself a name? I need that citizenship."

"Let's sit and talk, come on." He lead her along into the main room of the infirmary. He took a seat at a table and she followed suit. He appeared to be looking through a few papers in his hands before nodded about one of them and setting it on the table. "Here you are, you have to sign this."

She frowned, "How did you get this so quickly?" It read _Wall Maria Citizenship._ "Wall Maria?"

He ran a nervous hand over the back of his neck. "When I said I know people, I mean I went to the local records office and requested the papers for citizenship. Since it's not legal to do that unless the person is related _and_ underage, I- well... I claimed you as a relative underage." He bit his cheek, "I'm going out on a limb here, if you're willing, all you have to do is sign the name on the paper."

"You claimed me as family? That will put you in a bad spot if found out." Her brow furrowed, "Why would you go to this extent for a stranger? Why not tell me where to get this done myself and not risk your name?"

"Why would I go through all this for a stranger? You mean a survivor and refugee of Shiganshina, who is barely making it out on the streets, suffering from severe memory loss and has no family or friends to get help from. Who has no money and looks malnourished?" He recited, "Not to mention, it costs money to do this. I have money, you don't."

She held off from signing, she did not want strings attached to the signature. "Why not direct me and give me the money to do it on your own. You wouldn't risk your name, your reputation if something goes wrong."

He put his hands on the table, resting his fingers on the paper between them. "It's not expensive, but it's enough money to cover food for quite a while. Possibly even a room at a cheap inn. You could just take the money and run, I'm not about to let that happen. I'm offering you that citizenship, so you can do what you need to do. I feel like my moral compass requires I help a refugee in your position, but I'm not stupid. I am willing to give you this as a sign of good will, in return, you can make a life for yourself. You can move out of this spot you're in."

"So you don't trust me with the money, but you trust me with your reputation?" She was suspicious, before she saw his bright smile play over his features. He struck her as a nice man, but she assumed he was naive. He disagreed.

"Reputation to a doctor is not really changed by how a family member acts, thankfully. My reputation is based on how I help people, but if I need to I can disown you as my family. Just... try not to do anything that would make me want to. Money..." There was a definite change in his demeanor, "I have seen far too many people die of illness and... other things to feel like money is worth keeping to myself. If I can help someone, I will. Money is no value to me, I have what I need to survive fine enough, I can spare some to help a refugee that doesn't even have that."

His honesty surprised her, how serious he seemed changed her suspicions. In the end, she had no choice but to go along with his offer. She had no other options and this was a free ride, with this paper and name she could get to where she needed to go.

Trying to show good will to his risk, she rolled her eyes playfully. "I guess if you insist. Just... Don't rat out on me, I might have to do something embarrassing to the family name..."

She looked down at the paper and stared at the name he had listed.

"Is it okay?" He asked, trying to understand her reaction to the paper.

"Yeah, it's fine. Anything will work, after all, I don't have a name to begin with. Having one is a step in the right direction." It was strange taking on a name, one she was very sure was not her own. It was someone's name, a stranger. This person was not her, but she needed it right now. "Eva Faust... Interesting name choice."

Glad she was not put off by the name, he explained. "I claimed you as a family member that... died during the attack on Wall Maria. She lived further away from me, her parents were good people, but they are not here anymore. I believe they would consent using Eva's name if it meant helping someone who did make it out."

 _This girl died._ She felt guilt clawing away at her, she was a part of that attack, though she knew it was out of her control. There was still a part of her that felt as though she had no idea what she was doing she was still at fault. "I see. I wish I could thank them, this will help. A lot..." She signed the paper, using the name given to her. "...So, did you have to beg at all? I assume they'd be curious how a dead girl came back to life."

"Oh, there were some tears shed... by both me and the lady who handled the records. A lot of ' _oh how amazing! So blessed!'_ and all that. I said that I found you after all this time, thinking that you were dead, yadda yadda." They shared a lighthearted laugh, "It was fine though, the lady was far happier to know that he found someone he lost rather than question him about how he found her and how she survived.

"Glad to know my well being meant so much so that lady." She giggled, "I can't honestly thank you enough for this. I'm hoping to join the military once this goes through. I will try not to disappoint."

He stood up, "Good to know, I'm sure you'll do fine. It's a lot of work to join, the training is rough I hear. It must be, they're trained to fight the biggest monsters out there." He offered her his hand and she stood to accept it, shaking his hand like closing a deal. "I have some things for you, don't worry. Clothing, a place to shower if you want it. Some food? I want to help, I promise."

She looked at the paper on the table and looked down to her own dirty hands. "I really need to be clean when I sign up. I don't really want my first impression to be... _this_." She gestured to herself. "I'll take you up on that."

"Good, I'm glad you came so late at night. I've been here all day, I have a few hours for a break, but I have to come back. Life of a doctor is a busy one." He took the paper off the table and folded it gently. "Follow me, we'll head to my home. Again, no funny business, my wife and children are home. You won't have to be scared."

"I would hope so, I didn't know you wanted me to follow you home. I would not be agreeing if you weren't a family man." She never spotted the ring on his hand before, then again, she was never trying to figure out who he was, only his motives.

"You'll hear no complaints about that. Better to be smart." He praised and lead her away, "Before we go in I'll introduce you to the family, just so you aren't worried it's all one big trap."

"I appreciate that."


	4. Training Day

_The Wolf's Lie_

* * *

 _You know what this is, a story for fun. Any edits, rewriting, etc, will all be done at a later date. For now, all I wanna do is write what I feel like writing. In time I will polish over the story. This is unedited. I hope it's enjoyable, eventually I will add a lot more depth and detail to the story._

 _When I'm not sick I will likely deal with all details then._

* * *

It had been a long time coming and here she was.

She stood in cadet uniform, standing in line with everyone else. There were so many other people here, just focusing on the task at hand. Training would begin soon and their trainer was just marching up to them. She felt relatively lucky she was on the far edge of the crowd, hopefully no one would ask her anything. She had to remember her name, he recited it every night. _Eva Faust. Eva Faust. Eva Faust._

No one asked for her yet and she wanted it to stay like that. She was better being the stranger, the person who sat at the furthest table, who never spoke to anyone. It was better to remain unknown as much as possible. She would have to deal with the others sometime, but she would work to avoid others.

It was clear out, shining bright into her eyes. She had to squint just to see the instructor approaching.

"Hey, kid!" He called out, "Who the hell are you?"

"Armin Arlert from Shiganshina, sir." A boy hidden from view answered back. Two many people stood in the way for her to see who was speaking.

"That so? A name fit for a retard." _A little rough around the edges, are we?_ She huffed, knowing that they were too far away to see or hear her. "Your parents named you that?"

"It was my grandfather, sir." She giggled, it was a bit funny at least.

"Arlert, why are you here?" The rough voice of the instructor demanded.

"To contribute to humanity's victory, sir!" The boy cried, it sounded so patriotic. She knew _technically_ that's why she was here too, but she was not willing to say it like that. Sounded a bit childish.

"How very admirable. You should make first-rate Titan feed." She grinned, how terrible. The boy said Shiganshina though, she assumed he had already been near death enough to not be afraid when the instructor spoke to him. "Third squad! About face!"

The day continued on like that, it was just person to person, calling for name, what they wanted, and then judging them for it. Her ears began to hurt from all the yelling. He spoke to people all around her, but never stopped to ask her name and put her down. Merely passed in front of her, glanced her way, then went about his questioning.

It was a little intense, she began to wonder why he passed over her. Did he see something in her face? Was something wrong? Or did she simply look uninteresting and unassuming. Whatever it was, she was thankful she did not have to yell and he did not yell at her.

She wanted to train, work hard, and fight. Already she had survived outside the wall on her own. Surviving by scavenging and picking up bits and pieces she could find. It was not very difficult, stealth came naturally to her. She weaved around wild titans without a much of an issue. As if it was instinctual, she slipped away.

If she could use that to her advantage in the field. Getting out of danger that easily could mean fighting a titan that does not know where she is would prove very useful.

At this time she had no idea if that would even work. She planned to practice, be the best she could be, and fight. Push comes to shove, with her life on the line, she could always turn into a titan to survive.

By the time they had been dismissed it had been getting late. The instructor went though so many of the other cadets when she drifted into her own mind, the time flew by. Instead of more introductions, it was time to be shown where they were staying and where to get food. Basic rules were explained to the group as a whole, then they left to claim their bunks.

Naturally, she felt the one farthest from the group suited her. The bunks had not all been claimed as of yet, as such Eva headed to pick a bunk away from the others sharing the hut. The bunk in the far corner of the hut fit her and she wondered if she would have to share it. She threw her bag on the top bunk. _Claimed_. She thought satisfied.

"Hey!" A particularly cheery face appeared in front of her. It was startling, _unsettling_ , to say the least. "I'm Mina Carolina." She greeted happily.

Eva stared at the girl in front of her and looked around at the other girls near her. As far as she knew almost all of the squad was in the hut, save for the few outside. She came to a painful realization. _I'm the oldest person here, aren't I? They all look so young._ She paled instantly, like with kids, possibly even teenagers, was going to be painful and they had years to go before training was over.

 _Oh fuck me._

"Uh, what's your name? I'm meeting everyone from our potential squad early, we have to learn teamwork here too. I figured knowing everyone's name is the first step." She was right, of course. Eva still did not like that part of being in training, but she would have to work with it.

"I'm Eva." A curt answer, showing both willingness to comply and distaste in a little words as possible.

The girl's positivity faltered upon hearing the tone is Eva's voice. It was not hard to pick out annoyance, but she resolved. "Where are you from? I'm from Trost personally."

"Shiganshina." Her answer was short and enough to surprise the girl, her cheerful smile gone immediately.

A bell rung in the distance. They were told it instructed them the mess hall was open and it was time to eat. She felt like she owed that bell for saving her.

Eva left immediately, her clothes were already in the hut. Her stomach demanded her attention, the doctor fed her, but she insisted to not receive any more hand outs. She did not wish to leech off the kindness of other people, she felt undeserving. Now that she's here fulfilling her plan just as she told the doctor, now she would eat as much as possible without getting sick.

Leaving the hut she had to pass through other people that were standing on the porch. They were talking and she ignored the conversation entirely, making head way to the mess hall. They appeared to have stopped to talk about the girl running outside, but Eva could care less about the punishment the others got themselves stuck in. So long as they kept her out of it, all was well.

Once in the hall she was given her rations, only slightly better than what the refugees received. A tin can of a soup with vegetables and bread. Again, she did not like the bread and instead of crunching down on it, she would soak it until it was chewy from the soup. That felt far better to eat, it was comfortable.

She found a table, she made sure other people were not around, then she sat down to eat in silence.

It finally felt peaceful to just eat her food without anyone talking to her and without having to talk. Usually people did not feel the need to speak to a person eating, that and had the decency to understand not to disturb dinner.

How unfortunate for her that these people were not those people.

The mess hall was getting a little on the full side. People picked chairs where they could and since everyone was still eating, the mess hall was nearing capacity.

Eva found herself with unexpected company. _You need to shut up and get used to it. You will have to fight with some of these people, rely on them._ She internally groaned knowing that her desire for solitude came from the fear of being caught. There were no signs that these people knew if people could come out of titans, as she had done.

She was safe from that suspicion and still did her best to avoid it. From what she picked up from the history of these cities, no one had seen an attack from titans like in Shiganshina in a very long time. The only people who interacted with the titans were the Survey corps and the guards on the outer walls saw them, but had no need to attack them.

The wall was strong enough not to budge from the titans at the foot of it, they were harmless.

And then the real fun started.

While she sat and ate her food, the people around her chatted and in the middle of the mess hall a scene developed. The crowd huddled around a specific table and they all listened to one person.

"I already told you. I saw it." A few scattered gasps around the room, some of the crowd tried to get in closer.

"Seriously?" A man called, "How big was it?" The questions paused when the boy answered again.

"Tell enough to look right over the wall." He spoke, he did not appear to dislike answering the questions. He feigned annoyance, the attention suited him well though.

"What? I heard it could straddle the wall!" A man leaned in excitedly.

"Me too!"

"I heard the same in my village!"

The boy hummed, "No, it wasn't that gigantic."

"What did it look like?" The crowd was filled with morbid curiosity. Everyone asking about what happened in Shiganshina, what the Colossal Titan looked like, how big it was. She remembered it, remembered charging in beneath it. The hole in the wall gave all the titans enough room to flood into the city.

"It had barely any skin and its mouth was enormous." Simple answer, she assumed everyone would know what the Colossal looked like. Rumor would have reached its way all around the cities surely.

"What about the Armored Titan that broke through Wall Maria?" Even she was getting tired of the questions.

There was a short pause, "Even though people call it that, it looked like a normal Titan to me." She sighed, trying to focus on her meal. Her curious nature insisted she listen in, try to catch onto what people said about that day. Even though she would rather not think about Shiganshina.

"Th-then, what are normal Titans like?"

For a few moments after that question the room was quiet. Thankful, she took another hungry bite out of her chewy wet bread. The soup was not good, but it was far better than nothing. She could still see her ribs, she had been starving for so long she lost a lot of her strength.

"Guys, that's enough questions. I'm sure he has memories he'd rather not relive." A polite boy spoke up over the crowd, which was not hard now that they were on the edge of their seats waiting for an answer.

She finished her bread, trying to eat her soup fast. This conversation was going the wrong way. She was not the Armored Titan or the Colossal Titan, they had not been seen eating people, the other Titans were. She had been one of those _Normal Titans._ As if chaos was normal.

"Sorry for being so-"

"That's not it." The boy answering the questions returned after that small break. "Actually, Titans aren't such a big deal. Once we master operating the Three Dimensional Maneuver Gear, they'll be no match for us! We finally have the chance to become soldiers. I'll join the Survey corps and purge the world of the Titans! I'll exterminate them-"

 _Well, someone is enthusiastic._ She mused his energy over, it was nice, if a little pushy.

"Dude, are you nuts?" An unfamiliar voice chimed in his opinion, it sounded rather snarky compared to the night time Titan horror story going on in the mess hall. "Did you just say you want to join the Survey corps?"

"Damn straight." _Confidence is not lacking._ Reluctantly she was enjoying this cadet drama, so long as she was not dragged into it. "And you're planning to join the Military Police Brigade to take it easy, right?"

"I'm just an honest fellow." He had not a care in the world, he sounded so light about the tense conversation. "I think that's preferable to acting tough when you're actually scared shitless.

"You got something to say?" She looked up to see the crowd had moved, the boy stood from his table. He was ready to throw down with this other cadet.

"Hey, stop it!" Someone from the crowd tried to calm them even though the ' _argument_ 'was mostly one sided. The kid from Shiganshina had pent up anger and the other aiming for the Military Police was apparently having a good time. He was also bigger than the so called _"tough guy."_

"Oh? I wasn't really..." He stood from his table.

The two were face to face, one decidedly bigger than the other. One also clearly angry and sounded ready to fight all the time. She hoped she would never have to deal with him.

She finished her meal, she was ready to leave. The two still standing in the hall and she was not having anyone interrupt her business. It was time to turn in and she was going to do just that. In truth, she had finished her meal a few minutes ago, but did not wish to get involved in the coming brawl.

Now, she wanted to leave and she was going to leave.

Being older gave her the advantage of height and when she approached she was seen. The bell rung in her favor, she would not have to move these two boys by force. She did, however, pass directly in between them without sparing a glance. Everyone saw her do it, no one questioned her about it.

The taller man shrugged, "My bad. I wasn't trying to judge how you think." While his words were kind, his tone barely hid his amusement. "Let's just let it go." He held his hand out, offering a truce.

"Yeah, same here. I overreacted."

By the time everyone was filing out of the mess hall and finding their bunks, she had returned to her own and readied for bed. No one was here yet, so she climbed on the top bunk and relaxed under the supplied covers.

"Guess we're bunk mates." A voice dug its way into her skull. She turned and saw someone was packing it in below her. "I'm Connie, good to know I won't be sleeping alone! It was hard to find a bunk not already taken."

She ignored him, rolled onto her side facing the wall. She was tired as it had been quite the long journey to finally be a cadet. Now it was time to rest well and work hard.

He noticed her not replying and assumed correctly that she would not talk. Which was alright to him, he was tired too.

Graduation could not come soon enough for her, she wanted to be the best she could and get to the real work. There was a top ten list, there would be training with the ODM gear. She did not want to stand out to the others, it was time to aim well, but not too high. Her experience with the ODM gear put her ahead of her fellows, but she felt she could be better.

Not to mention, while she had used the gear, she had not used the swords nearly as much. Finding them beyond the wall was difficult, they were usually ruined, lost, or eaten along with the other half of the body in question.

She needed to focus on her melee training the most, she might have to fight like that one day if she gets caught.


	5. Montage Days

_The Wolf's Lie_

* * *

 _Any and all support is welcome! I reply to every review I get! Feel free to talk, ask, comment, or correct mistakes. As mentioned, I will be rewriting anything I find lacking in the future. All authors get better after making mistakes, I'm hoping to use this to write faster, but keep quality._

 _Say haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay~_

* * *

"First, your aptitude will be tested. Those who fail are not even worthy to serve as bait. Failures will be sent to the reclaimed lands!"

The entire cadet squad was up and out here, looking at these high wire objects lifting people off the ground. It was a test for the cadets to learn how to balance on the wires. A number of them were already displaying what intuition they had, some did extremely well, others struggled to maintain balance.

This was only first day basic training, most of these cadets would use these tools once and, if they could not balance well enough, would train again to see if they could learn. Others, like the very same _tough guy_ , displayed no ability whatsoever.

It was a little embarrassing to watch him hanging there, completely upside down. It was humorous, but she was mostly focused on acting as though she had never used these kinds of cords before.

"What the hell are you doing, Eren Yaeger? Raise your upper body!" Shadis yelled, demanding a better performance out of someone who was so determined earlier.

He looked stunned, looking beyond the crowd deep in thought. Some people were stifling their laughs, others felt bad for him, and a select few overlooked his obscene lack of ability entirely.

"Faust!" Her name was called and she stepped up to Shadis who showed her to the open wires. "Show us what you got." He demanded, the others hooked her into the machine. When properly strapped in, the man gave the other a nod and she felt her weight being lifted off the ground.

She no longer felt the comfort of earth beneath her feet. It had been some time since she used the ODM gear she obtained in Shiganshina, but her understanding had not wavered once she focused on her balance. Without hesitating, she held her stance, intentionally trying to make herself wobble to appear as the other cadets.

 _Remember, don't aim big._ She loosened herself, allowing her weight to shift outside her control. She did this so no one would question her, but all it got her was a look from Shadis who approached her.

"Straighten up." He commanded, "I see what you're doing. Now straighten up, cadet Faust."

Pale and extremely concerned how this man saw through her without missing a beat, she straightened her balance. She stood perfectly still, he knew well enough this was someone practiced with the ODM gear, but it was not his job to ask how and where she got it from. There were some out there on the market illegally. What she did or did not own made no difference to him; only less work to train her.

"You've used this before." It was a clear cut statement, left no room for doubt.

"Sir, I don't-" She still tried to deny it, but that was not going to work on the Head instructor.

"You would not lie to me, would you cadet?" He was daring her to continue and she did not feel like suffering punishment for something he already knew.

"No, sir."

He had a dark grin on his face, "Good. I tell you that you've used ODM gear and what do you say?

"Yes, sir."

"Right, then why did you waste my time by getting up here for the aptitude test." He looked to the men operating the mechanism and she was lowered, "Get back in place, cadet Faust. If you have any other skills in the upcoming tests, say something. Or I'll have you cleaning the mess hall for the next week!"

She nodded, "Yes, sir!" And nearly power walked her way back into the crowd of cadets. She did not think catching onto her would be that easy, but then again, she never gave it much thought.

All she thought about was acting inexperienced and Shadis was far more experienced than she was. She felt quite stupid thinking she could fool a man who had been using this gear his entire life. Tense, but thankful she escaped with only a warning _this time,_ she began to wonder what else this man could find out about her.

She had only been here a few days and she had years to spend with him.

 _Hopefully Titan in human skin spotting wasn't a skill set of his._

* * *

It was late at night, after dinner that the same guy approached her. The one that spent so much time on the equipment upside down. She half tempted to ignore him, but after the embarrassing day he suffered... she took pity.

She was walking to her bunk and happened to pass by the boy, Eren, talking to three other guys in between the bunks. It sounded needy and full of panic. Eren wanted to be a soldier and the other two boys were just having a go at him.

"Hey-!" The conversation was interrupted when she passed, Eren had spoken up to her. She was already developing a bit of a reputation around the cadets. She did not speak unless required to, she avoided others, and apparently looked very severe all the time. Even though she never really meant for that to be her public image.

And, even though the other three boys froze in spot when he addressed her, they expected her to continue walking. She paused for a moment and turned to look at Eren, who wore a bandage across his head now. She absentmindedly wondered how that came about.

"I heard you had used the ODM gear before, you have experience!" He sounded excited, "Can you show me how to do it, these guys won't." He huffed indignantly at the two boys, she recognized the man Eren picked a fight with the other night and Connie, her bunk mate.

She mulled it over, it had clearly made the rounds through the cadets that Shadis called her out for having experience with the ODM gear. Of course the cadets gossiped about her time on the training equipment.

"I don't really have the time." A simple answer, anything she gave him would upset him anyways. Might as well cut ties and go, she likely would not be working with him. If he could not pull off the aptitude test then he would be sent away and she would never see him again.

"What-?!" Eren cried out in disbelief, "... _Time_?!"

It was not her concern, if the others did not help him, she would not either. She wanted to blend in, not be known as the girl who helped tough guy here.

The two boys chuckled, they could barely hold in their excitement. It was funny to them seeing Eren's big talk and ego come crashing down around him. The attention he got for simply being from Shiganshina washed away, in the end, no one cared where he was from or what stories he could tell about the Titans.

"That's right, I need my rest before tomorrow. There's more training to do." She nodded to the group as a polite gesture before going to her bunk.

Before she left, she shared a look to the blonde boy beside Eren. He looked at her face, scrutinizing it. There was definitely something going on in his head, but she did take the time to figure it out. She continued her walk and ignored the curious look the boy was giving her.

I was time to sleep, the bunks were in fours. Two beds on top and two beds below. She still had not seen anyone join her up top, until she realized it was because Sasha was out running by the time Eva went to sleep. _Sasha_. The most talkative girl in the squad.

 _How did I get so lucky_. She growled, giving Sasha a very tired and annoyed look. Sasha was already waiting on the bunk, naturally, chewing on a bedtime snack. _Fantastic._

* * *

"Eren Yaeger, are you ready?" The day opened up looking like it was going to be fun. Shadis had Eren go first before the other cadets who were not able to go yesterday. She supposed he wanted to handle this issue first and get it out of the way.

"Yes, sir!" He seemed extremely worried, but more confident than he did the night before.

Shadis wanted to see this himself, so he watched Eren the entire time. "Begin."

The crank was turned and Eren was lifted slowly off the ground.

He was sweating. He took his stance and was clearly trying very hard to remain upright and his sheer force of will encouraged the crowd of cadets to cheer for him. They seemed ready to cheer him even though many were more prepared to laugh at him the day before.

She felt like she made a mistake. Assuming he failed and was going to continue failing the aptitude test, she did not help him. If he was not meant to be a soldier than she felt no need to do him a favor. He was to be removed when he failed the first time, now it seems that she would have to work with him after all.

Until they all saw him crash. He spun around, he lost his balance again.

Shadis approached him and Eren struggled still. "N-no... I can still..!"

"Let him down." Shadis spoke quietly than he had done ever done before and, as per his command, Eren was lowered to the ground.

 _Oh well._ She did not mind if he came along or not, but he was a hothead. That was not a personality she wanted to be around in dangerous areas outside the wall. Eva learned it was quiet and careful that survived the Titans; not loud, brash, and boastful.

Eren was on his knees, leaned back, and looked destroyed by his failure. "I can still..."

"Wagner, lend Yaeger your belt." Shadis commanded and Wagner was a little surprised by the sudden order. Shadis was experienced and Eva still could not believe Eren was making it so long after failing so badly.

"Yes, sir!" Wagner removed his own belt as Eren did before handing it to the distraught boy on the ground.

Once Eren had the belt on he was strapped back into the training equipment and lifted from the ground. Only this time instead of his face meeting the ground, Eren balanced well on the new belt. Eva watched his face; Eren was powerfully confused, in a good way of course. He was balancing and it took less effort than before.

"The equipment was faulty." Shadis held up the broken belt, "The metal fittings on your belt were damaged. I've never seen damage to these parts before. I suppose we'll need to update the maintenance checklist." The Head instructor was pleased to see Eren up there, even though he refused to show it.

"So he actually succeeded... even with faulty equipment..." The crowd murmured between themselves, amazed at Eren's ability even with the broken belt.

"S-so... what's your decision?" Eren's hopeful and nervous excitement was costing him his balance, but Shadis was not going to cut him for the gear.

"You're good to go." That was the end of a soft Shadis, "Stay resolute and train hard!"

Eren was overjoyed that the issue was not his, he made it as a cadet and would begin training with the others. Everyone was happy for him and Eva watched from the back of the crowd as they all talked and gossiped about Eren and his bad belt.

It was time to start more advanced training, _It's still a long road from here._

* * *

"You're slow! Run, you shitheads!" Yelled Shadis on the back of his horse.

Eva and the other cadets were running through the heavy rain on foot. The weight of soaking clothes and the backpacks they carried slowed them down, made it hard to even want to move. She persevered with the group, running with him at whatever pace the very middle was running at.

 _Succeed, but don't take the stage._ She panted, looking up to the dark storm clouds above. _When I said it would be a long road, I did not mean literally..._

Everyone was hand and hand with her in this mess. Shadis yelled at them, the group tried harder, got tired, so Shadis yelled some more. It was a great big circle of Shadis yelling.

She was beside Bertolt, Connie, and Eren. The names she picked up when they were running, before everyone was driven to such exhaustion.

This reminded her of using the ODM gear in the rain outside Shiganshina. Her first few days practicing were unfortunately spent in downpour much like this. It made self teaching extremely difficult, as a result, she learned how to live on ground for a few days. When she finally made it into a tree too high for the Titans to see her she slept for an exceedingly long time.

That sleep was the best she had yet, she remembered how luxurious that tree branch felt. It was ridiculous to compare a tree branch to a bed, but she was thankful for sleep no matter how hard the surface was.

 _Sleep_. That was her driving force through this rain. As she ran, all she thought about is how amazing sleeping was going to be that night.

It was out of the ordinary to see the blonde boy taking the lead in anything physical, but for some reason she just spied him sprinting ahead of everyone.

 _That kid has some crazy stamina._ She stared at him for a good while.

* * *

This day Shadis challenged them with hunting down wood cut outs roughly shaped like titans with these thick cushions attached to their napes.

She had not practiced this outside the walls before, only the sword training in class would come in handy here. _Time to learn something new._ When they were released all she heard was this whipping sounds of ODM gear firing before everyone vanished into the trees, including herself.

Everyone found a target and hunted it, sometimes multiple people would strike the same subject. Almost everyone in the class did well, but only the great ones stood out.

For this round, the best and quickest on the ODM gear was Mikasa and Jean. They ruled so far in score and tore up any wooden Titans they came across. Every now and then she spotted them messing around with each other, taking each others targets.

As this was going on, she went off on her own to find herself some Titans strewn about. All she was doing different now was aiming for the Titan instead of away from it. Sure enough, she found her targets and subdued them. The cushions flew off their napes and Eva felt good about her work.

Until she got a bit carried away.

Her experience with the ODM gear gave her more tricks to pull with it for additional speed and maneuverability. In this case, she could find the wooden Titans and cut them down faster than the average cadet. She began ripping her way through the class, her numbers soaring.

Shadis took note of her ability as he did with everyone, only he saw her beginning to truly focus on winning and she did well. She was not on Mikasa or Jean's level, but she was very good. Enough to warrant a second look from Shadis, until he saw her slow down entirely. Instead of continuing her hot streak, he saw her willfully stop it.

As if all her energy was just wiped clean.

Eva knew she was pushing too hard, if she kept this going she would be in the top ten and allowed to recruit for the Military Police. That's what everyone in the top ten of the class did, from what she had learned. They would be sent to the interior to live comfortable lives away from danger.

If she made it to those spots, she would be questioned as to why she denied the Military Police.

She slowed her pace, limited her cuts, and rejoined the average cadet in peace.

* * *

When hand to hand combat came around, she was lost. She had not fought another person, unless she dared to consider trying to catch those poor soldiers around her as fighting.

She definitely used her hands for that... and mouth, but this was different. This was training how to fight another person and she hoped this would not become a reality for her. Once the introduction courses were through and advanced classes took place, the trainers handled them as a squad at first.

Now they were allowed to do it alone, cadet against cadet. Honing skills for combat with another equally sized human being. This would not help with Titan killing, but she took part all the same. She kept her best for herself, hid her ability, and found herself very attuned to fighting another person.

It was as though the information she took in she learned immediately. She wanted to train, but she exhibited fighting skills already. Allowing her instincts to do the work revealed herself as a combat natural.

Her sword fighting was taught to her like the others, she forced herself to learn ODM gear, laws of the walls helped her understand the world she lived in better. Yet this was very different.

"How do you know how to fight?" She heard the question but did not know the answer. Looking up, she saw Jean in front of her. She was sparring with him, practicing. He was not too interested in learning it, but he still took her up when the option presented itself.

"Actually, I never learned how to fight." Eva replied and Jean's disbelief was written across his face clearly.

"You're kidding, right? That wasn't beginners luck, you really fought there... with skill!" He was not interested in this training, but Eva and him both learned something new.

With a glance to either side of her, she held the wooden dagger to him. "Guess I have some hidden talent after all."

Quickly, Eva left the sparring session between her and Jean. She opted to look at others, see what they were doing. She performed some advanced skill in this area of combat, she knew she could do better than she lead on, but she had no idea she would do her best at the one part of the class no one is graded on.

 _Figures._ She was a little more than disturbed. _Perhaps this has something to do with me, before 'Eva'? Maybe I fought, maybe I was a soldier then too._

Watching the other cadets, she saw mistakes they made. Meticulously she calculated their moves, the openings; ways to beat them. Whatever this instinct was, it disturbed her.

The day could not end quick enough for her. She hated what this hidden skill could mean about her life before.

 _There was a before right? Titans aren't born are they? Was I human before I was that Titan?_ When the class was over, she was all too happy to get away from the fighting.

Dinner came around and she ate mechanically. There was definite action going on around her, Eren and Jean were at it again. Those two could not get along. Shadis showed up. Mikasa made a snide comment about Sasha to get Shadis off Eren and Jean's backs.

She could not bring herself to focus on anything else.

That night, she barely slept at all. Her waking moments spent trying to calm her brain running wild with emotions, her dreams were nothing but odd strikes and maneuvers to pull on another human opponent. It was creepy, it kept her awake.

* * *

"Hands upon your hearts!" Opening again with someone yelling over the cadets.

Everyone was in formation, watching the end of their training. "Yes, sir!" The cadets answered.

All around was every cadet that graduated, the ones in front were the top of the class. Everyone saluted their teammates and the officers in front of them. She stood in the crowd with the rest, just how she wanted to be. She blended in with the others, she was equal - she was average.

"For you trainees graduating today, three paths now open before you." On the stage was the officers of the three sections they could go to.

"You can be stationed at the walls and defend the cities as members of the Garrison!" She saw the twin roses of the Garrison on one of the coats above them.

"You can put your lives on the line to fight the Titans in their own territory as members of the Survey corps!" The white and blue wings of the Survey corps was with them on the stage. She knew that was her goal.

"And you can serve the King by controlling the crowds and protecting order as members of the Military Police Brigade." The green maned unicorn was the symbol the top ten wanted most. "Of course, only the ten people with top scores we announced earlier are allowed into the Military Police!"


	6. Make Peace

_The Wolf's Lie_

* * *

 _I'd love to hear any suggestions for the future of the story. Considering Shingeki no Kyojin is not finished, I have to go off of what I can for now. Including theories for what will happen and how things are now. Of course, I read ahead and am super looking forward to Season 2 in 2017!_

* * *

Graduation was enticing, she was glad to be done with training. It was long, tedious, and difficult. The long hard road here paid off, she felt stronger and capable of fighting on foot. She had not killed a Titan before, she could avoid them without being seen. That was her skill and she was anxious to try it their way.

She knew she would go the path of the Survey corps, a few other people had their eye on it too. Due to his nearly religious outbursts she knew Eren was doing the same and she would have to work with him. Assuming the people who was always around Eren were his friends, they all planned to do the same. _It might be best to mend those bridges._ She remembered when she denied Eren's request, it likely made him a bit distasteful of her.

There were many subsections in the Survey corps if she was lucky she would not have to deal with him, though she would not mind one of his friends, Mikasa. She was the best the class had to offer, she excelled at every test she was given. Eva would not mind working with her.

She was unlikely to though, Mikasa was the best, headed to the Survey corps, and would put with the best possible to use her skills. Eva aimed in the middle ground, she kept any skill she had quiet. In the class as a whole, she's almost perfectly in the middle.

It was preferable to being caught with a strange Titan ability. Or being asked where she was from, she had her story straight and yet, every now and then, she felt herself believing it more and more. The last thing she wanted to do was get lost with Eva and lose who she was, her end goal was to help the lives she ruined, but she remained cautiously hopeful that she might find out who she really is and where she is from.

Titans have been around for little over a century so how long had she been a Titan like them? Was she made a Titan or was she human turned Titan? No one knew much about the Titans, her guess was as good as any. Regardless of the right answer, she still fought to be a better soldier and was more than ready to start fighting.

It was no secret that the Survey corps wanted to reclaim Wall Maria like everyone else in the city, only the Survey corps was willing to work towards that goal even if it cost lives. Eva knew it was the only way these people had, it was better than slowly being picked off city by city until they have all been eaten.

 _Or turned?_ She pinched her nose, _Do people 'turn' into Titans? Or are they just... like that? Like an entire species. But I was a Titan and now I'm human...?_

With an expressive sigh, she dropped that thought. It was far too confusing and there were no answers. Stressing herself out thinking about it would not work out well in her favor except to concern her more and more.

The celebration was nice, relaxing. She ate and drank as much as possible, it felt like the last decent meal she would have in a long time. Taking everything in before the storm. Soon enough they would be traveling beyond the wall to fight real flesh and blood Titans. She was not afraid of them, but she was concerned for everyone.

While she acted coldly towards the others, she was extremely worried about the safety of everyone, both the new cadets and the more experienced of the Survey corps. Her own memories provided enough material to think about. If they were not careful enough what she had done to people would be their fates too and she wanted to avoid that as much as possible.

She could use her Titan if things got too tense and there was no choice, she would rather fight with them to save them, not just let them die. Titans are not a quick way to die, it's slow, agonizing, and merciless. At least, that is what she assumed from the howls of the people in her mouth before. She made no attempt to end their suffering, the idea of mercy or suffering never entered her brainless mind. All she had known was to eat and find more to eat.

From the memories that replayed in her head she knew the fate they all tempted and she doubted their resolve when the end was to be presented to them. Not that she felt that it was necessary to act brave when they know they were going to die. Guts was a good motivator, but it could get them killed. Namely Eren, naturally, but the rule applied to them all. She survived by _not_ being brave and facing the Titans head on; she got around by being smart.

So far she had not made any ties to people in the cadets, but she knew she would soon. They were going to get a lot closer now that they were all joining the sections they wanted to go to. People in the Survey corps would be her team, she would work with them, help them, and rely on them more than she felt comfortable about. They would come to rely on her for their lives and she felt confident that she could support them.

 _Support them as a Titan or as Eva?_ It was a question she needed to answer for the team. Titans are enemies and even though she is in control of herself as a Titan, they would likely not see it that way. Last thing she wanted is to pull her Titan out of thin air and scare them into attacking her. Her skills with her gear is better than she lets on, if she is placed with the average to lower end of the squad she would easily pull her own weight, but might be held back by them.

The success of a team as a whole is important. They are only as good as their weakest teammate, whoever that might be, she would have to carry them. Her record would prove her ability and she needed to work with a supportive and skilled team.

The celebration went on and on, she heard the argument going on. Eren was at it again, only this time it ended with him storming out and his friends not far behind him.

She may have to deal with him in the future, more so than she originally thought. Top of the class or not, the Survey corps were not large enough to where she could avoid him and his drama. No matter how she hated how loud he was, she would have to learn to live with him. Which meant the first step to working as a team was getting along and trusting each other. Some nagging feeling in the back of her mind told her that she very much hated that idea, working with others was not a skill of hers, that she would rather be alone.

This was not about her personal preferences, it was survival of the whole. Emotional or not Eren was going to be someone she worked with and she could learn to live with it. Provided he was as willing to make peace as she is.

So she followed them.

* * *

On her approach to the trio sitting on the steps, she overheard some parts of their conversation. Normally spying was not something she much cared for, but this information could be useful when trying to make peace with Eren.

"You're out top theoretician! Put that to better use!" She paused behind them, far enough away not to be noticed.

"I don't care if I die as long as I can be useful." The blonde boy was speaking now, his tone emitted frustration with himself. She appreciated his desire to do good, but fighting if he cannot fight is dangerous for everyone around him. If she ended up working with him, she would remember that.

"I'm going to the Survey corps too." It was Mikasa the one Eva was specifically thrilled about having the potential to work with. That girl was dangerous in a good way, with her nearby Eva could not imagine how much easier the Titans were going to fall around them. The dark haired girl had far more skill than the entire class with unmatched intuition.

Eren was surprised at her answer, "You got the top score, didn't you? Go to the Military Police!"

"I'll go to the Military Police if you do. If you go to the Garrisons, so will I. You'll die an early death if I'm not there for you." She was stern. The decision was made and Mikasa was not going to budge no matter how Eren complained. They were stuck together.

Eva thought the dedication was nice, but she could not see how such tight relationships could go well. They would trust each other more, but that did not mean that trust was properly placed. The blonde boy she had seen before, he was smart, but not strong. Eren was not the best of all, but he did kick and fight his way into being a better soldier. He could improve what he was lacking in if it inhibited him from succeeding. Though, by the time he figured that out it could be too late.

"I never asked for that." Eren was a little embarrassed of her having to care for him all the time, though he knew she had good intentions. They had their lives they spent together and it meant a lot to them all.

Eva could see Eren was not going to fight them on their choices, though he did try to convince them otherwise. He wanted his friends safe and he realized it would be unfair to ask his friends to stay safe knowing he was planning to go to the section with the highest risk.

"I don't want to lose what's left of my family." Mikasa spoke her mind clearly. She wanted to be with her family and she considered them family.

Eva felt that pang of guilt again, she knew they were from Shiganshina and that they lost people to the Titans. She had no idea who died or how many they lost, but she knew she played a part in Shiganshina. It was enough to tide her over. As it was they sounded to be finished with their decision making, but lightly talked about other things.

"Hey." She interrupted their talking, the trio all turned to look at who was talking to them. "Mind I join?"

Eren visibly changed from comfortable to alarmed, "Hey, I remember you." That was not a favorable tone. "I asked you for help once and you turned me down, on the first day. I haven't spoken to you since." He was a bit more than confused as to why she approached now.

Eva smirked, "Thought you were just naturally upside down. Turned out it was faulty equipment. Can't win 'em all." She shrugged, hoping to make light. The blonde kid smiled at her, he seemed to like her answer. "So, do you mind?"

"No, it's okay." The blonde kid answered before Eren's rash self could.

Eva sat on the stair just below Mikasa, looking at their faces better. She did not know the blonde kids name surprisingly. Then again, due to her antisocial behavior she barely knew anyone who had not been part of notable drama. As such she knew Jean, Eren, Mikasa, Ymir, Sasha, Connie, and Mina. Everyone else was vague, their names she might have heard and forgotten.

"I remember you." They all turned to look at the boy. "You were with the other refugees, you gave me your food."

She thought back to the times she denied that bread and gave it to the other refugees, she did it more than once. "I don't remember. I gave out my rations a lot back then."

That only seemed to make him happier. "You gave out your rations that much? Why? Aren't you a refugee too?"

"I am, or was at that time." Eva shifted on the step, she did not much like trying to explain Shiganshina to people _from_ Shiganshina. "I was at Shiganshina... at the wall when it happened."

The trio was interested now, being that they shared this in common. It was a way to break the ice for certain, perhaps Eren would let her off the hook if she explained that she shared that terrible time. Eva would use it as she needed to, she wanted them on her side. At the very least, have them with her when they do eventually fight Titans.

Lying could get her in trouble though, so she would tell the truth, just not the _entire_ truth. "I remember the gate being broken in. I remember the Colossal Titan, I was very close to him. Too close for comfort. I remember the Titans filing into Shiganshina and a lot of screaming, it was deafening." She recited, careful not to implicate herself. "From there I did my best to get away. I saw people being eaten, I saw some of the Garrison soldiers fighting but they couldn't do anything, they had no idea how to fight."

"How did you get out?" Eren was tense, hearing a story too similar to their own.

"I got lucky, I was saved. Something happened after that, I never saw the Armored Titan, I was knocked out long before that." She chuckled, "I don't remember anything before..." _Careful._ She did remember life as a Titan, but nothing else. "...I just have no memory anymore helpful than that. Just mindless things."

The blonde boy gasped, "So wait, you don't remember anything else? What about your family, was there anyone you knew who escaped with you?"

"I have no idea who else escaped, I know people did, but if I have a family or any friends. I don't know that answer." Eva felt as though telling half-truths was easier than she thought before. Considering it all sounded more believable every time she said it in her head and her line between lies and truth was blurrier since she started training.

"Wow, that must be terrible. I would prefer closure, at least you would know." Eren sympathized with her situation.

"Well, my name is Armin Arlert." _Kid from the first day._ She remembered now. "This is Eren and Mikasa, we're all from Shiganshina too. We all lost people over the years, but I can't imagine what it must be like not knowing."

"I can't imagine what it'd be like knowing." She smiled at the boy, he was good hearted for sure. In good faith she showed him the same consideration. "It was years ago, I got over it back then. I'm mostly interested in graduating. It's been a long time coming."

"Sure has." Eren agreed, "So... where are you headed?"

"Same as you." It was a quick reply, she knew her answer. "I was aiming for the Survey corps from the first day, but I've been lazy in training. Since I never wanted to be in the MP I had no need to try for the top ten, maybe could've made it if I worked harder." She laughed it off, she was never going to try hard until she had to.

This seemed a little surprising to Eren, "Really? I wanted to go with the Survey corps this entire time, but I worked hard to get to the top ten. I wanted to be best I could be."

"I have what I need to make it. I can fight a Titan, as far as I'm concerned that's all I wanted." Though she agreed that Eren did the right thing doing all he could to be a better soldier, she could not afford the luxury. "Don't worry though, I'm good. I'm very good. I won't slow you guys down if we get stuck together out there. My grade here never mattered to me, my skill mattered more."

"It's good to know, I'm glad to see you again." Armin spoke up this time. "I'm glad to have a chance to thank you for giving us food back then. That was a kind thing to do."

Eva nervously grinned at him, it was uncomfortable taking any praise. "Uh, I just did what anyone would do. I wasn't hungry, so I gave it to a kid."

"Kid?" Armin asked, "How old are you?"

She gave him a look, "I don't know for certain, but I have a doctor friend who gave me a look. He said I might be around twenty-two or thirty. It was hard to tell from going hungry on the streets between then and Shiganshina." She ran her finger down her cheek bone, where the gaunt would appear from starvation. "So I like to say twenty-six-ish. Feels fairly in between my options."

"Oh right, I should've thought about that." Armin offered her a friendly smile, "Twenty-six-ish it is."

She laughed at him, the boy was sweet that was for sure. She was glad to see someone so happy, Eren and Mikasa were far too serious for her liking.

"Why are you here now, when I asked you for help before you turned me down. Everyone talked about you. They just call you a stranger and we all knew you were older than us. You stayed away from everyone all these years, you barely talked, and you somehow have experience with ODM gear before training." He recalled, "Shadis called you out on it, from there every cadet talked."

She nodded, refraining from answering him. He did not sound finished quite yet. Eren seemed like the curious sort, she would have to watch her answers a little more than before.

"Eren!" His friend called in disbelief, "That's a little insensitive, don't you think?

Eren looked at Armin, "I didn't mean it in a bad way. I'm just curious why you changed your mind now. After so long of avoiding people, it seems a little strange you would come around tonight."

"We are likely going to have to work with one another. Our lives will be threatened out there, it is better to make friends, not enemies." Eva spoke honestly, "When it comes down to it I will do what I have to do to help people. Like them or not, that's what I plan on doing. I don't want to hesitate when things get rough and I don't want my team to either."

A wicked smile was plastered all over Eren's face, "Thinking ahead, that's what I like to hear. One day, we'll all be out there together. Outside of the walls, fighting Titans." He was excited, being honest about her intentions of being here tonight appeared to have worked. Eren was thrilled to hear she was heading to the Survey corps and she was pleased he did not hold a grudge against her.

"One day sooner than we think, probably."


	7. Titan Welcoming

_The Wolf's Lie_

* * *

 _More to work on, chapters aren't as detailed but the detail is now being mixed in more and more. Story is invoollvveedddddd~_

 _Remember to read, fav, alert, or review! I'd love some feedback and I love all kinds! Updates are slower as I am feeling better. But I'm still having fun writing this, so we'll soon enter the main story and welcome our Titans to the scene._

* * *

It was warm out, she felt comfortable in her uniform. It was still her cadet uniform, but it was different to be in the city wearing it. The lowest standing of the military and she felt good wearing it in public while watching the Survey corps come back in. Eren was beyond excited to watch them return.

Apparently this was a ritual Eren did whenever he could since he was a young child. Mikasa spoke to Eva for a short time, explaining Eren's love of the Scouts existed since as long as Mikasa could remember. Eva did not realize she was watching this boy's dream coming true; he's going to the Scouts. Mikasa would follow him regardless and Armin was never intending on leaving his friends to fight Titans without him.

Eva spent more time with Eren, Mikasa, and Armin now. Though she was sure there was a few other people going to the Scouts, she was unsure who would. The only person who made it clear where he was going was Eren, loudly and often. As such, Eva stayed with them most of all. Usually she was alone and when she was not, she found them, or looked for the others she might be working with.

Likely the other top ten spots were going to the Military Police so she tended to avoid them, not because she spited them as Eren did, but more because she had no need to interact with people she would not meet again. Since the Survey corps was known to have a high death rate, most people went to the Garrison. Survey corps did not have many people willing to risk life and limb.

Eva did not have a strong love for Eren's emotional behavior. He was moody and though all that mood was focused entirely on killing titans, in their down time it was be difficult to relax around him. Mikasa was quiet almost all the time, even when Eren was picking fights she only stepped in when Eren got in over his head. Other than that, Mikasa was easy to be around. Armin was in between the two, he had emotion, but did not exaggerate. He did his work the best he could and felt guilty if he could not do it better, evident from that day when they were running through the rain.

All in all the group managed to balance itself out quite well, Eren's selfless bravery, Mikasa's nearly flawless skill, and Armin's intelligence made them a team to be reckoned with. She thought that, but she has been wrong before. If they did it right they would be able to fight Titans like the professionals do. However, Eva doubted the team would function so well at first and, if they survived long enough, their coordination and timing would improve over time with experience.

Eva's experience was limited entirely to what she had outside the walls. She mostly relied on herself and enough luck to choke on.

* * *

 _It was pitch black out, she could not see ten feet in front of her face. She was panicking, after having discovered the beast that lay before her, that she emerged out of her survival instincts kicked in full._

 _The bodies frightened her, but with her memories returning she knew she would not survive long without something to help her survive. She resided in the damaged homes near the bodies, too disoriented and sick from the gore outside to go far. She raided the place for food and sure enough the residents left so fast they left food behind._

 _She felt hungry enough to eat the food she found raw. There were vegetables, bruised, but still good to eat. Everything she could eat she did, until she was sure she could not eat anymore. Afterwards, she found a bed in the corner of the building and slept off her exhaustion._

 _Hours of deep sleep and she awoke to a brighter day. It was odd to see such a shining day after so much chaos. She was not complaining though, the light would help her get out without tripping over her own two feet. One memory of hers caused her endless concern, how they are able to smell humans and follow that smell._

 _She hoped the steam off that body hid her, being that she did not see herself human before this city was brought to ruin. Now she had energy to spend and she did not feel as though she was starving, she moved on. Exiting the building she saw the mans body from the night before... and only parts of the giant body. The steam stopped, but a section of the body remained._

 _The bits of memory she regained served her well, the gear this man had on him kept him in the air and assuming that they eat humans and she's now human, she wanted that gear. It could save her life if she could figure it out._

 _Time passed slowly for her as testing out this equipment was frustrating her. She had no idea how to use it and the broken swords the man was holding would not serve her well in the future. The most important piece was the part that lifted the user up and allowed them to travel like that. Hours passed before she found out how to fire the cords._

 _When they fired off they shattered everything in their path that was not strong enough to latch onto. The house was torn apart by her personal testing and, when she finally got them to latch onto something, she had no idea how to release them._

 _This was not going smoothly and she was sufficiently annoyed trying to find out how to work this complex gear._

* * *

 _Yeah... experience. Sure._ She had no idea what to do back then and now it just came to her, as if it was so simple and she was too stupid to understand it in the beginning.

It was amusing to see how many people thought she was some mysteriously talented criminal with ODM gear. In reality she forced herself to learn the gear to survive and while it did give her a head start in the class, it did not mean she was some hidden master of ODM. All it meant is she already knew how to use it and she was far more comfortable with it. Training as a cadet only furthered her ability with ODM gear.

Not to mention skills with the swords that she had not experimented with much before. Most of the swords she found outside the walls were broken or otherwise damaged. Many were usable, but using a weapon like that could not be self taught without proper practice. The only way to do that was intentionally fight a Titan and that was _not_ on her list of things to do while she was out there alone.

The crowd began to disperse as the Survey corps passed through, "They look completely different from five years ago. People really count on the Survey corps a lot." Eren's excitement was not soon to fade with his heroes so close and being so close to finally joining them.

"It's cheering everyone up. The past won't have to be repeated." An auburn haired women spoke from behind the group, she was another cadet that Eva recognized. She had no idea what her name was, but she knew she had seen her quite a bit talking to people.

"The artillery has been improved as well." The man beside appeared the happy sort, "That Colossal Titan won't come again, right?"

Giving the man a doe-eyed look, the auburn hair girl smiled at him. "Yeah!"

"How can you be so naive, you old married couple?!" Eren called them out immediately, their hopeful attitude was not to his tastes. Armin found the banter between the two amusing enough to watch Eren complain about them.

"He _always_ like this? I thought it was just training that did it." Eva leaned over to Mikasa and the black girl nodded.

Making sure he was not listening to them, Mikasa turned to Eva. "He's emotional with good intentions. It's just who he is."

Eva shrugged, "At least he's focusing that energy to training and fighting."

"Hey, you there!"

"Hannes!"

They were all interrupted. Eva turned to see a tall man, older than them all, with blonde hair. His uniform decorated with the Garrison shield, this man was likely serving for quite some time even before Eva started as a cadet, judging by his age he was getting up there in years. He did not strike Eva as a sour man, but he did seem like a man on a mission. "You guys graduated yesterday, right?" He grinned, "I can't believe they really let you kids through."

"I heard they made a drunkard like you Captain of a Garrison." Eren was smiling at the man and Eva realized they must have known each other a while.

"Touche!" The man laughed, still treating Eren like a kid though. Eva was a little thankful she was not the only one doing that.

An awkward moment passed as the man Eren called Hannes stood straight, a shadow cast over his face. "Sorry." Eva glanced to Eren's stunned expression. "I'm sorry I couldn't save your mother." _That's new._ Eva did not know their mother died... in a way that a soldier like Hannes felt guilt for. She did not imagine it was a good time, but she had no idea what had happened.

Eren took initiative, "It's not your fault, Hannes." The blonde man's eye widened, it seemed as though this answer was unexpected. "I'm no longer ignorant. I won't let that sort of tragedy happen again. I will defeat the Titans." Eren appeared devoted to this idea of bringing down the Titans, but Eva doubted he knew what he was getting himself into.

Eva looked to Hannes, the two shared a steady gaze. He offered his hand, "Hannes." It was a polite greeting, as he knew Mikasa and Armin already.

She accepted, "Eva Faust." When they released, he put his hand behind his head.

"If you're with them you must be going to the Scouts too." Hannes scoffed, still the same grin from before on his face. "It's a dangerous job, don't let that kid push you into it. He's passionate granted, but you don't have to follow him."

Mikasa and Armin looked at Eva, waiting for her answer. "I only met Eren during training, I had always aimed for the Scouts. It can help to have someone like him around, not afraid of dying, not afraid of trying. He's not convincing me where to go, just solidifying my choices for me." With a polite nod, she turned to leave. The Survey corps was out of view and Eva needed to prepare for Wall duty with the others.

* * *

Wall Rose was doing nothing to protect from the shining sun. It was not terribly hot out, only painfully bright. They had received Wall duty such as cleaning up, restocking, checking equipment - Eva was currently tasked with helping move crates. They held parts for the cannons that they had been having issues with and she was assured it was a quick fix, just needed some strong arms to carry it.

She was glad to be on the Wall and not under it anymore. In her darkest memories as a Titan she felt as though the Walls were guiding guardians, but that she crossed some threshold that insulted everything they stood for. Eva refused to think about her dreams while working though being on one of the Walls made it unavoidable. Wall Rose and Sina stood without Maria now and though she had not broken the wall herself, she still felt as though she was to blame.

The guilt stemmed from the people dead and those suffering the loss of their families, but the Walls served as some odd judges to her crimes. She did not believe them living or ' _goddesses_ ', but she did feel as though her crimes were connected to the Walls.

Every step on the Wall felt heavy, as though she was hurting the Wall just by walking on it. With such a strange feeling in her head her steps became light and she often walked on the ball of her feet, carefully.

It was beautiful though, the Wall allowed them to look far into the horizon. The lands were lovely and Eva knew those lands were once safe for people. Wall Maria was across those fields still standing. One single hole in the Wall forced everyone to retreat and hide. Eva sighed, work was hard on the Wall especially when she was unconsciously trying to step so lightly.

There were others she was working with, but nothing too serious was happening. As she delivered the crates to the man tending the cannons, she watched him work.

Before she had a chance to ask about her next task now that the bulk of work had been done, something far more important caught their attention. Everyone froze on the spot when a strikingly large bolt shot in front of the gate.

The Colossal Titan stood, overlooking the Wall entirely. She remembered him so clearly, how massive he was and all the damage he caused.

 _Eren!_ He had work above the gate when they were given their teams to work with. She was not near the gate, definitely not close enough to help him in time. _I need to get there now!_

Without missing a beat Eva ran off the edge of the Wall and fired her ODM gear. The Colossal Titan would wipe them out without a struggle and it was her job to defend the people.

Momentarily she considered how strange it was to be on the opposite side, a side she considered to be the losing team. Eva would give it her all, the day had only just started and she knew what was coming next.

She heard the others calling her as she jumped, but they quickly joined her. They were tasked with protecting the people as much as she was and the people on the ground needed the military more than ever. If they broke through Wall Rose than humanities numbers would be decimated, retreating into Wall Sina was not much of an option as it was too confined and most people would die before they got the chance.

Eva moved as fast as she could, the cadets behind her having no chance of keeping up with her anymore. She finally saw where her previous experience came in handy, she was shaving seconds off her speed and it made her that much more effective as a soldier.

Approaching the Wall she saw some of the soldiers hanging off the side, Eva saw the steam from afar but did not think it hurt anyone. This was clearly wrong as she saw a man being held by his leg by Sasha.

"Connie!" She swung up beside him, Mina not far away and Sasha farther down the side. "Are you guys alright?"

"Eva?" He was clearly scared, the Colossal appeared in front of them in a split second. She admitted she would likely be stricken with such fear too. "Yeah- no! Samuel! He fell and he's not answering. The Colossal... h-he just appeared! Eren went up to fight!"

Eva cursed under her breath, they were already starting to move again. "I'm going to help Sasha, she can't get Samuel down without help and the Colossal Titan is too much for Eren to take on alone and we're only cadets. The Colossal is better left to the experienced soldiers; go help Eren _not_ die. It is alright not to engage the Colossal." She was hoping her choice was the right one, but she could get Samuel down and Sasha was stuck.

Connie nodded, "Come on guys, let's go!"

Eva lowered herself cautiously, skidding down the stone slowly until she reached Sasha. "Hey, I'm here to help. I'm going down to get Samuel just hold him there."

"Thanks, he's not answering." Sasha was shaken and still remained far more confident than Eva expected from someone nicknamed _Potato girl_.

Once Eva got near Samuel and saw blood from his temple. "Samuel?" She touched him, holding a hand over his mouth and felt his shallow breath. "He's alive but unconscious! I'm going to try to get him loose!"

To ensure he did not fall once she released him, Eva fired off her gear evenly on the wall and slid herself under his body. With enough upper body strength she got his body to rest on her and began to work on getting his leg free. It was going to leave some damage and, if he was not seen to quick enough, then he would risk losing it to infection or further damage.

The hook was well in his leg, she would have to force it out. Otherwise, getting Sasha and Samuel down safely would be much harder. They were working on borrowed time as the Titans would come through the wall any minute. At that point saving Samuel might be impossible.

She grabbed onto the hook with both hands, closing the hooks and pushing it back through the wound. "I'm sorry, Samuel. This is going to do more damage, but we don't have much of a choice right now. It's a bad spot you found yourself in. I hope we all get through this together." She was mindlessly chatting the injured and unaware boy. It was steeling her nerves more than it was helping him.

With enough strength she forced the hook back out his leg. _Man this is going to hurt so bad later. Small price to pay for being alive._ After his leg was finally free his entire body weight pressed on her and she grunted under him. "You're a really big guy you know that? Fuck!" She grabbed onto him for dear life and got ready to jump to the nearest building.

"Alright Sasha, you're good to go!" The girl nodded and fired off back to the top of the Wall.

This was going to get bad quickly. Mustering up her strength, she had to carry the man bridal back to safety. It was not hard getting onto a building, it was going to be hard getting him back to a squad that will help him.

Jumping from building to building was not too bad, they covered rescue missions in training and she had the strength to carry him. It was challenging knowing the Titans were going to come through and she had to get him safe. Lives were important and Samuel is important now.

It was not too far to HQ, she was ready to make the trip quickly. Making sure he was safely in her arms, Eva went as fast as she could with him weighing their speed down. She had to use gas constantly and was silently thankful they all kept full tanks at all times. Between the two of them she was burning gas too fast to survive Titans anymore.

Since she was so slow, the others caught up with her easily.

"Eva?" She heard a male voice above her call out. Her swings were low between the main streets and they were able to soar over the buildings. "Is he alright?" She glanced and saw Connie, Thomas, and Eren a short ways behind her.

"He's alive!" She answered, "Injured, he can't fight!"

They all seemed saddened by this. "Do you need a hand?"

"I can carry him, but I will need gas when I get back." They confirmed and moved on ahead without her. She was capable of finishing this mission alone, though they made sure not to go too far. They remained within reasonable distance in case anything went wrong with her or Samuel.

Once HQ got closer and closer to them Eva felt herself relieved to know she was going to get him out of harms way and be able to rejoin the fight.


	8. A Soldier Unfocused

_The Wolf's Lie_

* * *

 _So this is possibly a LevixOC story being that I've chatted to some friends and they've suggested I just go with it. Being that I'm only partially into Levi (moody guys are annoying, but I like Levi's character for backstory, etc)_

 _Feel free to say "Yay" or "Nay" to that idea! :D_

* * *

She was back in the stock room, replacing her gas canisters. Samuel made it back safely and the infirmary took him away from her view. Eva was then ordered back to fight as she had not been injured with him.

It had been a few years coming, but she was anxious to do good today.

"You recruits have completed training and graduated into proper soldiers!" A man from the Garrison was yelling, again, as they all readied for battle. Eva knew the others made it in even though she had not seen them. "I expect you to actively participate in this operation too!" He was getting them prepared for the fight ahead. It was going to be a gruesome one considering their 'army' was the Garrison, Military Police, and the cadets. This was a bad time for the Scouts to be out.

After looking over their gear they were directed to the yard where they were to receive their orders. Eva, set to go, was stopped only by Eren by his hand on her shoulder.

"Are you ready for this?" Eren had a devilish glint, "This is a big day for humanity, we can win."

Eva was stunned for a moment, before deciding to encourage his optimistic approach. "Just stick together, fight as a team. We're all trained for this, Eren. You know what to do as well as I do." She placed her hand on his shoulder in solidarity. Mikasa and Armin beside them, one looking far more calm and collected than the other. Eva worried for Armin, he is a sweet boy with wicked intelligence, not a fighter.

As a group they all headed off into the yard and listened for their orders.

"Just like in the training, split up into your individual squads. You will be under Garrison command. Your duties are to assist in providing supplies, communications, and sweeping up the Titans! The first line of defense will be the frontline unit of the Garrison!" He seemed as nervous as the cadets, Eva was concerned more and more every time she looked at their faces.

"The second line will be the cadet squads under our command! The rearguard will be the Garrison's elite units!" She assumed she would be in the second line acting in the cadet squad. "We've already received word that the vanguard has been annihilated! The outer gate was destroyed and the Titans have encroached upon the city! This means that the Armored Titan might show up any moment to breach the inner gate!"

The crowd erupted into nervous questions, doubt, and fear. She heard people asking about the survival of the people, the Walls. It was a terrifying notion to think that the Wall would be breached again and the Titans would win another fight. Human numbers would plummet from the Titans, famine, and economic downfall.

" _Silence!_ " He shouted, "The frontline guards are already in combat! There is but one goal in this defensive operation: Defend Wall Rose until every civilian has been evacuated! Also, in case you forgot, let me remind you that desertion is a capital offense! Vow on your hearts to devote your lives! Dismissed!"

Eva was waiting for the final call, she was going to the second line with other cadets. As she walked away, she went to check on her allies. She came across others like Marco, Jean, Armin, Connie. It took a while, but she was ready to fight.

"Jean?" She asked, he was beyond angry about this. "Are you going to be fine?" Her concern was noted, but he was on a tear. He had no patience for this though largely it was his fear of death. The Military Police would keep him away from the Titans and now, on the final day, he would have to fight them.

Without answering her, he growled and stormed off. Behind him was Connie and Armin, trying to prepare for what might be their final day. There would be loss and they had no idea who would make it. Armin got along with almost anyone, he was easy to agree with.

"Eva." Armin saw her, "It's good to see you. Eren said he saw you when the Colossal Titan appeared. I got worried you tried to fight him like Eren did."

She shook her head, "No, another cadet was injured and I took charge getting him to safety. Eren went after the Colossal alone. I knew it was a bad idea, but I'm not dumb enough to tell Eren he can't do it. He would either way." With a soft smile, she looked around at the panicking soldiers. "... You be good out there, Armin. You give it your best, but don't be stupid. You can make this."

A slight jolt and Armin gave her a bravest look he could manage. "I'm going to try. I want to do all I can out there."

"I know, I mean..." She looked over to Eren, "Don't follow Eren - the way he acts is rash. It can get everyone hurt. It could get you hurt. He's tough, but he has no idea what he's walking into today. He doesn't know how fast a situation can change with Titans involved."

Armin looked down to the cadet patch on her jacket and thought about her words. "I know, I want to help, but I can't do the things Eren can. I have known him so long... He'll go head first without thinking twice. I worry about you more. You said you slacked off in training and I hope you're telling the truth. We will all need you out there."

Eva crossed her arms and gave Armin a wide, toothy grin. "Hey, think nothing of it. I'm better than I ever let on. I'll give those Titans hell and I will back up the others. I won't run and Titans don't scare me."

"Good, take care out there." Armin was truly worried about Eva during this fight, if a bit surprised by how stoic she was about fighting Titans. It was his time to go though, the squad would be leaving soon and he was in a team with Eren.

Mikasa approached her. Just like before, Mikasa's quiet approach was a bit alarming. "You're in the second line, right?" Eva stared at Mikasa with wide eyes and nodded shortly. "Watch him, if you can. He needs more protection than he lets on." She turned on her heel and left, leaving Eva no room for questions.

 _Okay..._ She felt a little awkward, it was very strange to get that request from anyone. Mikasa was known to always be with Eren and Eva knew it was because they spent their lives together, so Mikasa trusting a stranger with this task must mean she was desperate for help. _I make no promises for that boy._ He was too reckless for his own good and it would make keeping him safe excessively difficult.

She could not focus on Eren specifically and Mikasa's concern for him could get Eva in trouble if she did not protect Eren. While they were in different squads, Eva's team was close to Eren's. If he got himself in trouble Mikasa would be livid, and while Eva wanted everyone to be fine at the end of the day, she knew it was impossible. People would die or otherwise suffer, that is a fact she came to terms with.

"Faust, with us. We're second line with the others. Let's go!" It was a Garrison soldier and she realized it was time to give it all she had. She had been wanting this for years, it was time to act.

She followed the soldier to a small squad waiting, a girl ran up as their last member. "Eva!" It was Krista, a girl much shorter that Eva nearly forgot existed were it not for her spot in the top ten of the class.

"Krista." She greeted, now noticing how Ymir made sure they were close together. _That could be an issue._ If Ymir was wrapped around Krista relying on them to survive would be a bad idea. Eva would rely on the other people in the squad and she saw Connie in the team, a boy who was also in the top ten. Two in the top ten and Ymir, a girl everyone knew was good, but she did not display it often anymore.

"We're going to help the second line, you cadets know how to do this. You were trained for this, do the people proud. Our goal is to take down every Titan that comes within our range to protect civilians as they evacuate. Do _not_ go too far your squad! Do not chase Titans, no revenge killing! You need steady hands and clear heads. You are all soldiers and I expect you to act like soldiers! Are you ready cadets!" The Garrison squad leader rallied.

"Yes, sir!" The all cried in reply, Eva was sure they only answered to _sound_ confident.

"Right then, with me cadets!" The Garrison soldier turned around and stood at the edge of the roof they all were on. "Switch to ODM, watch me, where I go, you go!" As he took off his ODM gear snapped him a building ahead of them.

Eva and Connie jumped first and ended up close behind the Garrison leader, Ymir and Krista close behind. Eva's previous desire to fight the Titans and save the people she wronged was always a powerful drive, but facing it changed her bravado. All she felt was dread, not fear of the Titans, but dread that she would fail. If she let the people down Eva was unsure how she would make it.

She had to do well, people would die, but if she had to she would find a way to beat the Titans back from breaking through Wall Rose. The Colossal Titan broke Shiganshina's gate then the Armored Titan broke Wall Maria's gate.

Eva's blades would have a secondary use if this battle went too bad, they could not lose Wall Rose. If it was breached the loss of life would be catastrophic. There was not enough food or space to hold the refugees from Wall Maria and Wall Rose. Her ability as a soldier might help the rest to fight off the Titans and save Wall Rose's gate.

 _If not..._ Eva gulped, they were flying through the air getting in position to hold off the Titans. _I can do this. Wall Rose can't fall. At all costs, keep the people safe. Don't let them get through._

"Alright cadets!" The Garrison soldier landed on a roof top near a main street into the city. "We have to hold this position until we either beat them back or we'll ordered a retreat." He made sure his team landed and caught up entirely, "Likely we will have to watch for the retreat signal. Until then, look alive."

Eva walked up to the Garrison soldier, "Do you expect the cadets do well here. First day out of training, most of us are going to die here." She spoke quiet enough not to be heard by the others.

The soldier glanced at her somewhere between deadly serious and a little shocked she would say anything about it. "I don't expect all the cadets to survive; I don't expect most of the soldiers here to survive. I'm sure a majority will- well, this is a surprise attack. No one was ready for it, five years without incident and I'm sure people thought we'd go for another hundred years."

She agreed, it looked like a lot of people were not going to survive this fight.

This was her chance to fight on humanity's side and hope to, in her own way, work to heal the damage she caused. Telling anyone about her Titan-side and the things she did as a Titan. They would put her down without a second thought, she could not repay her crimes by-

" _Titan!_ " Connie announced, it was a rather large Titan approaching them. Her training told her it was about thirteen meters with other, smaller Titans behind it.

"Alright, this is it!" The Garrison soldier took his stance, ready to jump on the Titans. "Everyone, with me!"

The moment he took off the squad was with him, they all jumped to the challenge and Eva chanting through the steps. She needed to keep a safe distance, out of arms reach, go around the back, get a clear angle on the back of the neck, and charge. Seeing that the Garrison soldier lead the charge, she needed to act as a distraction to the Titan below to give him the room he needed to bring this one down.

They fell into the motions they were trained to perform. Ymir and Connie passed the one Eva circled for the one behind it. They were the best in the group, it was possible for them to handle a Titan alone - if they were careful and did as they were trained. The movement was enough to sicken Eva her first time around, the ODM gear was brutal on the cadets stomachs.

 _I think of weird things..._ The Titan swung at her, the disturbing open mouth smile lunged at her. She jumped back, the gas propelling her back to escape its range. The hand missed her, she was safe from its grasp. Right as it finished that first lunge, the Garrison soldier went in on as the opportunity presented itself. With a precise strike his blades sliced right through the nape and the Titan went limp.

The body crashed to the ground and the rest of the Titans found them. "More Titans incoming! Go get 'em cadets!"

Eva took initiative and went into the Titans funneling in through the street. It was a smaller Titan, about ten meters and already fixated on Krista. The girl was too far away for it to reach her but she could not get around its focus to strike. Eva burned her gas until she came up behind it, before it noticed, and slashed the nape open. Sure enough, the Titan fell and she had officially taken down her first Titan.

Proud and reinvigorated, Eva charged into the next fight feeling adrenaline rushing through her body. Krista followed suit and they joined their squad and held their position. There were not as many Titans as Eva worried about, but the number was steadily increasing, teaching her that any Titan was too many.

It was getting rougher, more Titans came into view, they could see the squads nearby fighting. They heard the screaming and they all, in their own way, begged for their fighting to pay off.

"Six meter from the right! Watch out!" The Garrison soldier called out, there was a Titan crawling down below where they could not see it. Had they charged the Titan coming down the street one of them would be open to that Titan. The group changed their tactics accordingly and Eva felt like this was going remarkably easy considering the trouble they could be in. It looked like the others were not having an easy time.

Ymir reacted first, hopping roofs to get over the small Titan and around the one in the street. She was fast and got behind the Titan like it was nothing, with a quick zip she was in place and swung as hard as she could, severing the nape and moving onto the next Titan.

Connie opted for the smaller Titan in the alley, it was reaching for Eva who made noise to keep it off of Connie as he went low. It was a tough shot, he had to go in between the buildings which meant if the Titan turned on him Connie could be in a very bad spot. Eva used her ODM gear, one hook on each building, to lower herself slowly, the closer she got the more the Titan wanted her.

It gave Connie plenty of time to fly by and cut open the nape of the Titan. After which Connie went straight up to meet Eva. "Nice one!" He gave her a thumbs up and continued on with Eva not far behind him.

Even though they were taking down Titans, too many kept coming. It was getting tougher.

Eva dodged a Titan hand that came around from the corner of a building. "Shit-!" That Titan was aiming for her now, she was too close to it. Ymir and the Garrison soldier came to her sides and distracted the Titan from her. As they engaged it another came from behind a small store, it crawled up the side of the building, the stone cracking under it. Krista and Connie went to handle it.

Alone, Eva saw more Titans coming in. _Where the hell? There weren't so many before._ She gritted her teeth and went for the closest one. With her squad busy with other Titans, Eva went to fight them alone. As Krista and Connie handled one, a twelve meter Titan focused on them. The Garrison soldier and Ymir separated to handle two smaller Titans encroaching on the area.

This was going to be tight, if they all managed their Titans well enough then they could keep up watching this position, it was never going to be long before squads began to cross paths. _You got this._ Eva's grip on her blades tightened. The Titan she was aiming for was around twelve meters and it was looking at her. _You know how to do this._

Eva's hooks stuck into the Titans left arm and she swung around, using the momentum of its swiping arm to propel her behind it. She released those hooks and reattached to the back of the Titan, but missed the nape. Growling, Eva used more gas to lift her higher to get a better angle on the nape. When she fired again she latched on properly and she was pulled in on her target. The blood from the Titan sprayed on her uniform and he unlatched her gear.

She jumped to the next building, her gear swung her back closer to her squad. _Nice, painless- keep it up._ Private internal support was helping her, disconnecting her from the danger she was actually in.

More Titans filed in, as one was brought down another took over. In the immediate area there were near ten Titans overrunning their numbers. Before she had time to react a hand crashed down on the roof behind her. She lost her footing and sure enough a Titan was reaching for her from the far side of the streets. Eva fired her ODM gear at the steeple nearby and escaped the Titan. It was far too close for her liking.

Eva paused on the side of the steeple, the Titan turning to try and reach her. The others were getting more and more spread out, they handled one Titan only to be faced with another that they could not ignore. _This is a good time for that retreat signal._

Jumping from her safe spot, Eva went down to chase another Titan heading towards Connie. It stumbled quite a bit over the rubble, thankfully since Connie was on the far side Eva had a perfect opening to charge in and slash its nape before it knew she was there. It fell quickly and Eva reconnected with Connie, the two moving onto more Titans. There was no signals of anything yet.

They had to retreat or die here soon, there were far too many Titans for a small squad to handle.

Sooner than Eva anticipated, she heard a screech nearby and both Connie and Eva turned to see. It was from Krista who had been hit by a Titan and landed on a one story overhang. It was well within the hands of the Titans and they were going for her. "Krista!" Ymir called, the yelling pierced the chaos around them all. Connie and Eva looked at each other, shocked at Ymir's sudden entrance.

Ymir tore through the Titan reaching for Krista, Connie and Eva joined her and easily took down the smaller Titan beside Ymir and Krista. "Move!" Eva shouted at them. They attracted too much attention and Titans previously unaware began their slow slumbering walk towards them. _Dammit._ Eva watched Ymir pull Krista to a higher roof, she was fine, only stunned after the hit.

Eva sprinted away to the oncoming Titan group, their leader beside her. "You go for stocky and I'll get the grinning one." He ordered as he flew off to the right. Eva took his direction and went low, underneath the giant. It had shorter arms, making it a considerably easier target. As such, Eva slashed its hand and slipped behind it as it tried to use the hand now missing.

As she landed on the spine of the Titan she heard a rumbling sound behind her. It was the sound of another Titan close enough that she could hear it opening its mouth. Eva jumped away, her gear pulling her out of harms way as the Titan behind her bit down on the spot where Eva had been standing. It tore the nape off the stocky Titan, taking care of her work for her.

 _Convenient._ Eva went for this new Titan, it was bigger than the last one with abnormally long limbs and a neck that appeared unnaturally stretched. Taking a chance on the Titan, Eva barreled towards it, hoping to get under its range before it grabbed her.

As it reached for her, she felt the palm hit her side. It shook her off balance, but did not take her off course. Her scabbard was dented, it took the hit for her. She landed on the collarbone and knew it was willing to harm itself to get her. Struggling to maintain her balance on the shoulder of this towering creature, she did her best to leap off its back and fired her hooks into its nape; giving her the speed and force she needed to cut open the nape.

It was not ideal, her blades were damaged from it more so than usual. It was too slow of a dead on strike to save her blades, yet it still handled the Titan.

Then she heard crashes by her, it was loud. _The others-!_ As Eva turned to find the source of the deafening noise, she saw a Titan falling on top of her.

And her world went black.


	9. Rally the Dead

_The Wolf's Lie_

* * *

 _Don't worry, Eva has a story of her own coming up. But we won't be able to see it while this Arc is going on, farrrrr too early to start spouting giant spoilers like that.  
As a reminder, there WILL BE SPOILERS from Shingeki no Kyojin eventually and I warn you guys, that stuff... it can be heavy. It you only watch the show - that's fine! Just be warned!_

 _I will add a final warning on the chapter that passes the show to tell anyone who doesn't want spoilers to stop at that part and wait until the show comes out. Season 2 of Attack on Titan is announced for Spring 2017. That means when Season 2 is released I will likely do a series dedicated to the show and one dedicated to the book itself._

 _Just so no one suffers any unnecessary spoilers. ;)_

* * *

"Eva!" A voice cried, it was panicked and sounded urgent. "Eva, please!"

"Eva get up, now!"

"Wake up cadet!"

"Hit her, that'll get her up."

"Come on, you're tougher than this!"

"Eva, wake up!

-Wake up!

- _ **Wake up!**_ "

 _Wake up!_ Eva's eyes shot open and she gasped for air. She shot up from the arms of the person holding her, her body burned. "Wh-what happened?" She ran a hand over her face, her vision too blurry to see what was going on around her. All she knew is that it sounded bad.

"Eva! You're finally up!" That was definitely Connie's voice, "You were knocked out. Ymir took out a Titan and it hit a building, you got hit on the way down by the Titan and rubble." He informed her and, now that he mentioned it, she did have a throbbing headache. When she pressed her fingertips to her temples, her left hand slipped and she pulled it back. Her eyes focused and all she saw was red. _I'm bleeding?_

"We have to get out of here! We're running out of gas!" The Garrison leader was still alive, though appeared hurt by something. She did not have time to ask. "Your gas tanks should be okay, you've been out of it for a bit. Our support never came through and we're too far to make it back before our gas runs out."

"What the hell happened to them?" Eva groaned, struggling to her feet. Krista and Connie at her side. As she glanced around them, she saw they were on top a tower, too high for the Titans to reach them. Most did not even notice them up there. The structure would not hold against the Titans below them forever, they would have to move eventually or risk falling into their hands.

"No idea, not one has shown up. We've lost the resupply, our only chance is to try and bolster our numbers. The more people we find, the more noticeable we are - but we can take calculated losses." He sneered, "Likely we can't all make it back to HQ together, our gas is too low to fight the Titans between here and there. They're already crawling to HQ and they will be overrun soon."

"That's a bit pessimistic, don't you think, sir?" Krista's sweet voice chimed in. "I think we can do it, we're all good soldiers! I know we can make it if we try."

Ymir sauntered over to Krista, "Oh~ always trying to lift people's spirits, huh?" The considerably smaller Krista puffed her red cheeks at Ymir's loving response.

A piercing scream stopped all of their quiet planning, Connie went and looked over the edge. Some of the Titans momentarily distracted and Connie spotted a familiar golden haired dot in the distance. "Hey! It's Armin! We can team up with his squad, that should be enough people to handle the Titans!" Before he gave them an opportunity to weigh that option, he swung down the side of the building right over the heads of the Titans below.

"Connie!" Krista called out, but he was too far to listen anymore.

Eva shook her head, "We have to work together and that means going after Connie and Armin's squad. If we fight alone, we're not going to make it." She pointed in Armin's direction, "I think our best chance is in numbers. Even if we all don't make it, we can make a good distraction for the others."

The Garrison soldier nodded, "Everyone, get moving! You know where to go! Do whatever you have to, but if you can do _not_ engage the Titans!" He jumped first, followed then by his squad. The team soared over the Titans, some did not see them leave and those that did were too slow to keep up.

Eva's head felt like it was spinning, her aim was skewed and it cost her speed. There were dark spots in her vision that were definitely alarming to see, but not enough to stop her. She had confidence in her instincts since she had survived off of them for so long beyond the Walls. For now, she could make due with this small injury.

 _It will heal very shortly anyways._ Eva's Titan regeneration still acted when she was human, any damage she sustained would sear away before it became enough of a problem.

As she landed on the roof Armin was on, she heard Connie's voice talking to the boy. He was kneeling on the roof and, while Connie was talking to him the same way he was trying to wake Eva up, Armin was not unconscious. He was wide eyed, staring into nothing. _Shock? From what...?_ Eva looked around her, hoping to ask questions and took notice of a dark truth.

 _There's no one else here._

"Armin! Hey! Armin!" He shook Armin's shoulders in desperation as Eva stood aside and let him handle Armin. She had to watch for more Titans coming in and it looked like Ymir had the same idea. "Are you okay? Are you hurt? Where's your squad?"

Silence met his questions, Eva did not like how this was looking. "Why are you alone? And why are you so... slimy? What the hell happened here?"

As Connie finished, Armin screamed, his hands grasping his hair. Eva spun around, the boy was too loud. The blood curdling scream, as terrifyingly sudden as it was, would get them in more trouble.

"I'm useless! Just leave me to die!" Armin's cries made everyone around them uncomfortable, they all looked at him before trying to keep the perimeter clear.

"Calm down, Armin." Connie was just as surprised as the rest, "Where are they?"

"Just drop it already, Connie." Ymir stopped Connie, his answers were only Armin's horrible screams, but she pieced it together like the others did. "They're all dead... Everyone but him." She was not concerned about them dying so much as she was Armin attracting more Titans to the area.

"No way! Armin didn't say that!" In denial, Connie argued against Ymir.

Ymir's annoyance was audible. "Open your eyes and look the fuck around you. We don't have time to babysit him." _So much for getting help from another squad._ Eva sighed heavily, this was a waste of time... but she liked Armin, she did not want him to die.

 _Helping one soldier will not help the others. If Armin is unable to fight, he can't make it. Don't risk your life and the lives of the other soldiers because you're buddies. Needs of the many._ She rubbed her eyes, she did not want this. She was not naive, there was risk and people would die. No matter how hard she tried, not even if she was the best soldier alive; there was no way to save everyone. All acts must be for the good of a whole, not singular.

"Why is he unhurt then?" Connie made a good point, if Armin's squad died, how did he escape harm in such a traumatized state.

"Who knows? Maybe the Titans mistook him for dead." Ymir turned to Connie, "It was just bad luck their squad encountered multiple Titans at once. But to think _this_ guy was the sole survivor? Eren and the others didn't deserve this ending."

"Hey, you heartless bitch, you want me to shut your mouth for good?!" Tensions were clearly too high for Ymir and Connie to be left to themselves.

"Stop it, you two!" _Krista, of course Krista._ Eva was already closer to Connie and Ymir, ready to intervene. "Of course everyone's on edge! Our friends are dying all around us. It's only natural."

"That's my Krista!" Ymir cheered for the smaller girl, "After this mission ends, marry me, baby!"

"That's true, she's screwing around even more than usual." Connie growled, "Anyways, we can't stay here. Can you stand, Armin?" He offered the scared boy a hand up, Eva stepped behind Armin.

"Sorry for causing you trouble." Armin's voice was low, hollow. He stood and passed Connie without looking directly at him. Eva knew that feeling, it was dark where Armin was. "I'll go join the rear guard."

Eva was a little upset at Armin's sudden change in demeanor, Connie tried to stop Armin, but he left just as Connie reached out for him. They gained no new support from this and put themselves more in the way of danger. This was worse than before.

The Garrison soldier had guarded them, allowing the boys to handle the issue as he knew the cadets trained together. They could handle Armin, but he commanded their path.

"It's time to go, Connie." Eva placed a hand on Connie's shoulder. "Let him be."

* * *

It did not take long before they found themselves exactly where their Garrison leader said. Too low on gas to survive a battle against the number of Titans surrounding HQ and too many soldiers and cadets unprepared for the horrors they just witnessed.

Eva, exhausted, hit the wall behind her hard and slid down. _Finally. Rest._ She was out of breath, they had been fighting for so long and found the squads they had missed before, but Armin was unresponsive in a corner and the rest were too far gone for Eva to rely on. She was not a team player, she did what she could as she was expected to, but at the end of the day she had no skills to lead.

Something in her made her feel complete when she was alone. She loved the feeling of fighting by herself, no one beside her - it sounded as though she would get herself in trouble like this. If she fought on her own, acted out her instincts without people to help her, it would likely end with her missing one day. It was too dangerous.

 _How the hell did it get like this?_ They had been fighting well, but even taking down half the Titans would not save the city. Their numbers were too thin, the gas too low, and with no support in sight they were running out of options.

Eva was not the talkative type, she did not mind her allies and yet their company was a pressure on her shoulders. _I have one last trick. I can help this final time. If they get smart, I will have to leave before getting caught. I want to help but I don't want to die._

She put her head in her hands, _Am I too afraid of dying, being caught by them, that I wouldn't do all I can? As a Titan, can I fight them all off, can I find a way to close the breach?_ Her grip pulled at her hair tie, she let her long blonde hair loose, _If I do this now, if I do this as a Titan... I wanted to help as a human, am I only valuable to these people as a Titan?_

Her mind was distracted and even so everyone could hear Connie arguing with Jean. Connie wanted to fight harder, with everyone, and Jean felt defeated. It went back and forth, Connie was no closer to his goal and Jean was no closer to being brave.

Eva began to doubt these people would survive. _Will I?_

"I never thought I'd hear you make an intelligent comment, Connie." Jean's statement stuck out to her, but his tone signified he still felt hopeless. "But how to you propose we do that with the forces we have left? The vanguard has nearly been wiped out. Moreover, which one of us cadets could possible take command of such an operation?

Not that we could do anything about the Titans even if someone took command. The gas storage is probably crawling with three to four meter class Titans by now. And of course, we can't fight them inside the storage." Jean finished, it sounded as though every inch of his self was gone. He was never as loud as Eren, but he had his own quirks. He was funny, he tried to be the smooth guy. Where was that man now?

"So it's hopeless?" Connie's previous anxiousness to fight met Jean's view of reality. His luster failing him and he began to fall with Jean.

"I had such a boring life." Jean sounded almost annoyed at himself, "If someone told me beforehand..."

Eva stood up, her injuries long healed. _I can fight. I want to fight. I don't want to let anyone down, I am capable - I can do more than this._

"Let's do it!" A particularly bright voice stabbed the dreariness of it all. "Stand up! If we all work together, we can do it! I'll be in front!" It was Sasha, the girl unlucky enough to be 'gifted' with the nickname of Potato girl. Eva watched her go to the groups standing off to the side, all of them reeling in shock, terrified of the events they had just witnessed. Even the experienced soldiers were lost - most of them had never seen combat like this.

Shiganshina was the first time people at the Walls had fought the Titans, one hundred years and finally they breached the Walls. Eva thought that even with the Garrison soldiers 'experience' or even the Military Police, when faced with the Titans, they were all cadets. The only people who knew how to fight Titans were the Scouts... and they were not here.

Eva took a few steps forward. _Even if they don't fight back, I will. I won't let them all die like this._

"Armin! Let's go together and-!" Sasha ran up to the scared boy sitting on the roof tiles. He was not listening and his spirit broke hers.

She was not going to go down hiding on a rooftop when she knew she could do so much more for them. Eva took out her blades, her gas too low to fight for long. Eva had no spirit like the others, she wanted to do this out of guilt. She was afraid of the faces she saw in her nightmares, they never stopped staring at her, watching her, judging her every move. The Walls protected these people and Eva crossed that barrier, one some in the city considered sacred. It was a gift from a gentle, forgiving heart to Eva and she did not intend to let them down. _Time to go._

As Eva began to take her steps away from the scared soldiers, she spotted another person running towards them. Someone who clearly was not part of this squad.

"Mikasa! Weren't you with the rear guard?"

"Annie!" The girl stopped and Eva feared the worst, "I think I understand the situation and I apologize for bothering you, but have you seen Eren's unit?" Mikasa was after Eren and Eva knew he was not with them anymore. Armin's state was a clear indication that Eren was gone, the two were close enough to be considered family and though Armin was not physically strong, he would still be fighting if Eren was beside him.

"No, and I haven't seen anyone climb the wall either." Annie answered, a little surprised Mikasa approached her first.

"Armin's over there, though." Reiner, a larger man, pointed out the lonesome Armin sitting against the wall. The sight of Armin raised Mikasa's concern over her friends, she was glad to see Armin alive, but without Eren nearby - she knew before she approached him.

"Armin!" Mikasa ran to Armin, it was painful to watch her learn about the loss of her family. Eva was frozen in spot watching Mikasa go to Armin desperate for good news.

 _This is what they went through_. Eva felt as though watching them was punishment, watching Armin and Mikasa's pain. The suffering of the soldiers around her; this was what she deserved to see. _The people I killed... their families did this. They had to go and ask, they had to beg for their loss. They stood and thought that their loved one is never coming back, that they were eaten by a monster. Every last one, a dozen times over. Husbands, wives, children, parents._

Eva felt the world go dark around her. It was tunnel vision, all she could see was Mikasa and Armin. Armin tensed, scared to give her the news and Mikasa was hoping her fears were not true. _This is what you did. You did this to them_. Eva listened closely and imagined all the people who did this before and those that will again after this battle is over.

"Armin, are you hurt?" She leaned in, "Feeling okay?" When Armin nodded, she stood up and searched around, seeing only the faces of other cadets and strangers.

"Where's Eren?" When all remained silent, Mikasa tried again. "Armin?"

Eva felt a great pain in her heart and a lump in her throat, she could not breathe. When Armin looked up at Mikasa, tears in his eyes, Mikasa knew her fears had been founded.

"Out unit... the thirty-fourth cadet unit..." Armin struggled to speak, "Thomas Wagner. Nic Tius. Mylius Zeramuski. Mina Carolina. Eren Yeager." He choked up, "All five of them have fulfilled their duty and died heroic deaths in battle!" Every word he spoke only sounded harder and harder to say.

Eva bowed her head, they were all gone. She knew it already, Armin being alone out there would not have happened had Eren been with him. Somehow hearing it from Armin made it so much more real, as if she could feel the truth.

"No way..." She heard Sasha gasp near by, they all thought that Eren would survive out of anyone. He fought like an animal to be better and did all he could, swore he would beat the Titans back and help the people experience freedom.

"I'm sorry, Mikasa. Eren died in my stead..." Armin fought between being angry with himself and grief. "I couldn't do anything! I'm so sorry." He cried, Mikasa's appearance here finally broke him from his trance. He could not reconcile Eren's death, but Mikasa could.

"Armin," She was close to the boy, getting him to focus on her. "Take a deep breath. This isn't the time to be emotional... Stand up." As Mikasa helped Armin up, she turned around and walked away. There was no visible change in her behavior and Eva felt shocked Mikasa did not react to the news. However, it appeared as though there was about to be a reckoning for this group of mismatched soldiers.

She let Armin calm down without her, "Marco, if we take out the Titans around HQ we can replenish our gas supplies and climb the Wall. Does that sound correct?" Mikasa marched to the far edge of the building, waiting on Marco's reply.

"Yeah... but even if you're with us, there's just too many..." He, like the rest, were confused and hoping she was not talking about taking HQ from the Titans.

Eva felt life in her veins, she would do this with Mikasa even if the others refused. Mikasa was the best of all the cadets and if anyone could change the tides of this battle, it was her. "We can do it."

"I'm strong. Stronger than all of you. Extremely strong. I can kill all those Titans there even if I'm alone. You're either incompetent or you're spineless cowards. How pathetic. You can sit here and suck on your fingers." She pointed at them, relying on judgement and honor to rally them. "Yeah, do that."

"Hey, Mikasa! What are you saying?"

"You want to fight all those Titans by yourself?"

Eva stepped up to Mikasa and gave her a nod, "I'm here, with you, until the end." Eva brought out her swords, knowing her gas would not get her too far. Mikasa turned around, looking on to the target.

"If I can't, then I'll just die. But if I win, I live. Unless I fight, I cannot win." Mikasa took off without them, she was willing to fight alone or, as Eva was going to have it, just the two of them.

"Eva?" Connie looked at the woman. Eva ignored him and pulled her hair back, ready to fight again. She switched to her ODM gear and flew in behind Mikasa.

Eva tried to be as quick as Mikasa, but the woman was too far gone for Eva to play catch up with. Aside from Mikasa's smaller stature, Eva simply did not have the gas to spend to stay side by side with her. Instead, she used towers and corners of buildings to give her the momentum to move forward. Along the way, as Mikasa did, Eva took down any Titan she could reach.

It felt good to fight, even when she knew this was unlikely to succeed, joining the fight as a human felt as though she belonged with them. Armin and Mikasa's loss hurt Eva far more than she ever anticipated. She thought it would go by without an issue; people live and the die. This fight was likely going to claim lives, but watching it happen felt so different then simply _knowing_ it happened.

Eva caught up to an already dead Titan as it was still falling, she was not far behind Mikasa. The others were behind Eva, she knew the dead Titans were a direct result of Mikasa's pain and anger. Eren meant the world to her and with him gone, Eva worried about Mikasa's safety.

 _When did I start caring about the other cadets? I never wanted them hurt or dead. That did not mean I had to be sad when they are or... feel guilt. I didn't kill Armin's squad. I wasn't a part of this._ Eva got a burst of speed, her own rage came forward at the loss of her allies. Of _friends_.

Just as Eva cut down another Titan, she heard them. "Mikasa!" Unquestionably Armin's panicked voice and she saw him pull away from the group. Eva could not hear or see what happened after that point, there was a Titan ahead of her and she could not spare the time to investigate what happened to Mikasa unless she wanted to risk her neck. Armin was already after her and it appeared as though another soldier had gone too.

Eva saw Jean catch up to her as she dispatched the next Titan, it was remarkably easy to handle the Titans when they did not see them coming.

She felt hopeful now, they were making a rush to base and it was looking as though they would make it.


	10. Ray of Sunlight

_The Wolf's Lie_

* * *

Eva stood on a sloped roof that overlooked all the Titans on the streets below them with HQ still far in the distance. They had to stop, the Titans around them and their rapidly decreasing gas was finally getting to them.

They always knew their low gas supplies was compromising their plans. Not that their plan was anything other than get to HQ or rather, find out who gets to HQ then do something about the Titans there. While their spirits were lifted when Mikasa called them out on their cowardice, it began to dissipate without her around anymore. Mikasa was better than anyone here, she had to be alive for the rest to make it.

Eva put the blade of her sword in her hand, ready to make the cut.

"Stay away!" They all heard the cries and only noticed a man on the ground, unable to escape the Titans coming for him. He held up his swords even though he knew they would not help him in his situation.

Eva looked over the edge, she stood behind Jean. "What do we do?" He had been leading them this far, she was hoping he would continue to lead the unit as a whole. Though he seemed wholly unprepared for this position, he fell into it against his will. Even then, Jean was doing better than anyone else and Eva was not a leader; she did not have that fire to rally the people.

Jean tore his eyes away from the scene in front of him and struggled to find words to answer her. "He's-"

"Tom! I'm going to save you!" Both Jean and Eva jumped, the boy was too afraid to let his friend die but too blind by panic to understand the position. It was not possible to save the man.

"Stop! You can't!" Jean pleaded before another person zipped from behind them.

"I'm coming!"

Their bravery was admirable, as always. The unit was never truly too scared to fight, it was only they knew their odds and began to surrender to them. Eva watched as the two soldiers risked their lives for the man below. He was already in the hands of a Titan below; there was no chance for him. They had neither the numbers or the skill to handle Titans in this way.

The boy who jumped first was almost immediately grabbed by a Titan. The wind was knocked out of him, the sudden stop doing more damage than he could recover from even if they managed to save him. He was broken by the grip of the Titan and the girl who followed him was no better.

Titans took them, ignored their cries, their begging. Eva stood closer to Jean, and offered a hand on his shoulder. He was leading them and he was only a cadet. It was unpredictable that their first day from graduation would be the second attack by the Colossus and the cadets would largely face the Titans alone.

Jean had no reaction to Eva's comfort, though she knew she was not good at this. She wanted to get to HQ to use her Titan to fight off the ones surrounding the supplies, at that point it would help those inside the building and the soldiers coming in for resupply.

When the screaming stopped, they knew it was over. Everyone stood still, no one wanted to face this.

"Jean." Eva sighed, "People die, a lot more have died then them. For better reasons. We need to go and they trust you."

"Why don't you do it?" Jean huffed, still shaking after watching his teammates be eaten alive.

She looked at the people behind them, "I can't get them to follow me, I'm not that person. I don't have that in me and they don't know me. But they know you and they trusted you the moment Mikasa got them off that roof. They listened to you."

"Maybe they shouldn't do that, seems like a bad idea. I don't know how to lead anymore than you do." Jean looked at her, the Titan's crunching in the background disturbed them both, but Eva managed to ignore it as much as she could.

"No, but they respect you. No one here knows me, all through cadet training I stayed away from people and only now have I had to work with them. They do not know who I am, what I want, what I can do to help. Everyone knows Jean though and they listen to you. It doesn't matter if you want them to or not." She looked at the Titans huddling around the bodies, trying to get their own piece.

"Go! Hurry to HQ while you can!" Eva turned to Jean and saw him running off the roof, he was apparently done listening to her.

The others paid attention though and joined him. "Come on, Eva!" Sasha called out as they all passed her. Eva caught up, running at the rear would be hard. By the time they passed the Titans they would target her.

"Everyone! Move in!" They rushed over the roofs, avoiding using their gas if they could, but at the last stretch between them and HQ they took off. Titans were swarming the area, reaching in the air to grab them. So far they missed, everyone having gotten too close for comfort to the hungry Titans below. Eva was too far behind, she was beginning to realize her mistake of pausing for too long.

She had to go lower to escape the grasps of the Titans that had already reached high for the others. Going below them was the best chance she had, but the more she tried to dodge them, the more hands blocked her view of the others.

 _Shit! You're too slow!_ Eva burned more gas trying to get passed, but as she attempted to gain more speed she saw the hand coming too late.

"Eva!" She heard her name called but could not hear by who, instead, as she looked down to see if she could cut her way out the Titan tightened its grip.

" _AGH!_ " Eva felt a cracking pain in her body, it was too tight and the hand began to crush her. The others were gone, they had to make it even if she did not. Though she knew she could still make it, she was so close to fighting this entire battle as a human without using her Titan to fight back. It was her ultimate goal - to be good enough to fight the Titans without being a Titan.

The Titan that had her brought her close to its mouth, it hung open in a disturbing contorted smile. Her hands were free, she could get out. _Last chance, do this and you can make it. You can do this!_

She could not cut off the fingers at her angle, there was not enough force to sever them. _This will hurt._ Eva took the blade, aimed it between the Titan's fingers and her body and drove the blade in the small tight space there. It did enough damage to cut all the way down her side and the grip was weakened on her. It moved her towards its open mouth. _Time to go!_

Taking the blade, she leveraged it away from her body and pushed as hard as she could. The index finger was almost completely severed, enough for her to come loose. She braced her foot against the middle finger that still gripped her left foot. With enough space Eva slashed the last finger and jumped out of its hand.

 _I'm losing too much blood, but_ _if I heal the steam will give me away. I have to keep my regeneration off for enough time._ Eva grasped her side and engaged her ODM gear again. _This is going to hurt..._ She burned as much gas as she had to get to HQ now. The Titans too distracted now to focus on her anymore. A few reached for her but none could get to her.

She saw the broken windows up ahead and assumed that was how they all got in. Eva had her own window to break in, she did not want to risk landing on anyone if they just got in there. Bracing herself while keeping pressure on her wound, Eva released her ODM gear and crashed though the window.

Eva hit the ground hard, unable to keep herself to a controlled fall she tumbled on the floor until the force of her fall hit her against the far wall. When she finally stopped moving she did not feel like moving anymore, her entire body was in pain and she failed to notice the trail of blood she left from the window all across the floor.

Hurried footsteps came to her aid, she heard them approach. "Eva?!" That was a familiar voice, "Oh man, she's alive!"

Eva was pulled up from her rest on the floor by someone. "There's blood everywhere..." The person who pulled her up sat her against the wall, she helped as much as she could.

"What happened to her?"

"We saw her get grabbed by a Titan just outside."

"Seriously?! How is she alive?"

"Everyone, shut up!" That was definitely Jean, "Hey, you're going to be fine. Now get up!"

Eva swallowed hard, "Yeah, I'm fine." Jean helped her on her feet, trying to ignore slipping on the blood on the floor. "Just a bit sore... might need a few bandages actually... Now that I look at it." She held her right hand out, she had been trying to keep pressure on her wound but it was not enough. Her hand and arm was red, her uniform jacket would have to be replaced after this.

"No kidding, we need to get you some medical supplies." Jean said a bit shocked at Eva's bloody reentry. He was sure she was dead when Marco said he saw her in the hand of a Titan. It was good news to knew she had survived and came back to them, that was one less soldier he had to feel guilty about losing. Any life is a life.

"Marco, get Eva further inside. It's not safe out here, the Titans could have followed us." Marco nodded and took Eva's arm, allowing her to lean on him for support. His right hand on her side, helping her hold her own body together. It was messy, but it kept her alive and she was thankful.

"Come on, I can help you." Eva gave Marco the biggest smile she could manage and limped through the doors. He brought her to a room with a seating area to let her rest on. "I'm going to find something to stop the bleeding, just stay here."

Eva was not about to go against those orders. _If only they'd give me space for just a moment..._ She had no chance to heal herself without them becoming suspicious and how would they react then? What would they do when they saw her healed, Titan steam sealing her wounds. They made it this far, turning into a Titan now would not be helpful anymore. They had done well without her, mostly they fought without her helping them. The soldiers were better than she thought.

Marco found a few shirts stored away and came rushing back to her. "Here, this will do until we can get you some proper supplies."

She removed her jacket delicately then had Marco help her unbuckle her gear over her torso. Once everything had come loose, Marco pulled her shirt over her head trying to be careful to not allow the blood soaked fabric to cover her too much. "Okay, this might hurt a bit. Just try to stay still."

They had no water here, he would try to clear up the blood with whatever he could. He was right of course, it hurt to have anything pressing on or around the wound, it burned and she twitched in response. She held onto Marco's shoulder tightly, realizing how hard he was trying to help her. All cadets had some emergency medical training and Marco was giving it his all. _I owe this kid a lot right now._

"Marco... thank you." She uttered through her grinding teeth. The boy gave her a kind smile, trying his best to comfort her.

"You don't have to thank me, I'm sure you would do the same for me." He finished cleaning the open wound as best he could. Then he began tearing the shirts up to make strips of cloth for makeshift bandaging.

Then they heard it, a loud crash that shook the building and screaming from the cadets in the other rooms. "What was that?" She asked mindlessly knowing that Marco could not give her the answer. Instead he hurried himself, wrapping her midsection as fast and as best as he could. Whatever was going on was causing a mass panic and it was time to get back out there.

"There, that's all I can do with what we have. Hopefully when we resupply we can pick up the medical supplies down there and get you properly fixed up." He sighed, "Sorry I can't do anything about the pain though." He watched her wince as she stood up.

"I can live with the pain, it's far better than bleeding out after we finally made it to HQ." She patted him on the back and went to pick up her bloodied shirt from before. While he did find other shirts to use as bandaging, he found all he could and they had no time to search for more. The wound was protected all she needed was a shirt to get back to the battle.

The torn shirt was damaged below the waist and she had to buckle herself back. She took the torn pieces and tied them to the side, the bandaging covering most of what was exposed by her ruined shirt. She strapped her gear back on and steeled herself for the rest of this fight.

They heard a strange inhuman roar coming from outside the building that snapped their attention back to the mass panic.

Marco made sure Eva could stand on her own, before they left the room she threw her jacket back on. Sore, but able to move again, Eva left the room and went to investigate what was happening. Once Marco saw Jean leaving the room, he was relieved to know his friend was fine despite all the commotion. Something big was going on outside this building and it concerned Eva enough to even watch her own steps.

"What's going on?" Marco hurried to catch up with Jean, Eva close behind. "There's a lot of noise out there."

"They think they found a Titan that only attacks other Titans." Jean growled, "It's stupid, but it is killing them out there. We're heading to the lift to the supply room. It's apparently overrun with Titans and we're going to have to handle them if we want to rejoin the fight." He explained, leading them out of the room and towards the stairs.

"Eva?" She heard her name called and recognized instantly Armin's voice. It was him, with Mikasa and Connie. She had no idea what had happened after their final rush to HQ, but she knew they were out of sight and could only hope they survived. Looks like luck was on their side.

"Armin," She grinned at the boy who came right up to her. "Glad to see you all made it." Mikasa and Connie nodded to her, acknowledging her good will towards them. It was a relief to know that some of their best soldiers had not perished on the field. They needed all they could get now.

Armin looked Eva over and took notice of the blood that soaked her clothing, the bandages around her waist. "What... what happened to you? You look like you're nearly-" He paused, noticing her paler than usual skin. "You're hurt, pretty badly."

"No more than anyone else really. I fell behind when we made a break for HQ, found myself stuck in a Titans hand. Felt like dying would've been rather boring right then so I cut my way out. Don't worry, I got a flesh wound, but that Titan lost a few fingers." She laughed, hoping to make the boy feel a bit better. He had already lost his closest friend, she did not want him to worry anymore.

Thankfully, he returned the smile and continued walking. "I'm glad you made it then, sounds like it was close."

* * *

Everyone was taking a short rest as they waited on the lift. Eva was happy to have a moment of peace to herself, closing her eyes and resting her throbbing head. She felt the need to heal herself, but was confined to a room with the other cadets for the time being.

Regardless, she was glad these people made it even though so many did not. It was better than nothing and it gave them all time to reorganize and plan for the future. If they could get the supply room back then they could fight again. While the Titans were still entering through the breach in Trost's wall, they still made impressive head way and could push the Titans back even more.

 _If_ they could get into the supply room. As of the moment she knew it had Titans roaming in it and such a tight space left no room for errors. ODM gear was useless that close to a Titan, they had to find another way to deal with them.

Her injuries were beginning to catch up to her the longer she rested. She had to get up now or she would be unable to get up when they needed her. Many of the surviving soldiers and cadets in the room were waiting for a way to beat the Titans in the supply room. Without more gas they could not hope to fight the rest of the Titans outside.

People talked, many excitedly, others hid away to think about things they had just seen.

Eva tried to take a deep breath and felt lucky that the wound was only on the surface. Eventually she will be alone and will work to heal herself, it was just bad timing she had to fight now with the injury. _Shut up and help, if you stay here much longer you won't be able to help anyone._

Eva rose from her spot and slowly made her way to Armin who was overlooking something on the ground. "We found some! They're Military Police supplies, though they are covered in dust..."

It was crates of guns and bullets. Eva may not be able to swing down on Titans in her condition, but she could fire a rifle easily enough. Instead of seeing what Armin was doing, she went to the crates as Jean and the others cracked the lids. "Here, take one." Jean handed her the first one and took himself one. "Exactly what we need."

She took to loading the rifle as the rest of the soldiers did, but she did not know why they wanted rifles. They were not useful against Titans from what she remembered, only those blades at the nape of the neck really worked to kill a Titan. Not just any weapon could even if someone hit a Titan's nape perfectly, it was a unique tool.

"Will three bullets be enough? Do these guns even work against the Titans in the first place?" Jean voiced his doubts after finishing loading another rifle. He was right of course, guns were not very effective against Titans.

"It's better than nothing. Even if there are still seven three to four meter class Titans in the supply room, blinding them all at once isn't impossible with this much firepower." Eva looked over the shoulders of the soldiers kneeling beside Armin, it was a map she did not recognize. "First we'll use the lift to lower a large number of people in to the center of the chamber. Next, they'll fire directly into the faces of all seven Titans at once. We'll blind them, the next instance will decide everything.

Seven other people hiding near the ceiling will swoop down to attack their weak spots while they're blind. In other words... if we follow this plan, we'll be gambling everything on this single attack. The whole point is for seven people to kill all seven Titans simultaneously. The seven people should be the most physically capable ones. You'll have to shoulder the burden of everyone's lives... I'm sorry." Armin was clearly unsure about his own plans.

"No problem." Reiner weighed in, he did not seemed concerned at all.

"Whoever fails, all of us will die. The risk is the same." Annie agreed, it was dangerous but they did not have much of a choice in the end. Everyone shared the same responsibility.

"But... I'm a nobody. Is my plan really the best option?" Eva felt bad for the boy who had no idea his plan was far more than anything anyone else thought of.

It was always Marco that spoke up to cheer on his friends, "We've got no other choices except your plan. There's no time left to think. This idea's out only shot. Now, we've just gotta give it everything we've got."

"Don't worry. Be confident. You've got a talent for reasoning out the best solution." Mikasa, someone he knew very well, was the best person reassure Armin. "That intuition has saved my life and Eren's life too."

Eva looked up, the lift had arrived. Before Armin could get his answer, the soldier on the lift opened the gate. "The lift's ready! The guns too! All of them are loaded!" She rested her rifle across her shoulder.

"Are you alright for this?" Jean spoke quietly to her, concerned about her physical state. "You're no good to us if you can't aim that thing with your injury." It was a warning for sure, she knew she was capable at this time still. The fact that Jean was trying to handle the soldiers like his own squad gave her comfort though. He did well with the other cadets.

"I got this, I can fight still. I fought a Titan off with this injury I think I can shoot a gun while standing completely still." She chuckled, "Let's do it, Jean." He nodded and they parted ways. He was one of the soldiers that would drop on the blinded Titans as he was one of the top ten cadets. Eva took her place in the lift as the rest filed in with her.

* * *

As the lift reached the supply room, everyone went quiet. It was tense and Eva felt sick looking at the Titans in the room. If they failed here, even as a Titan, she would not be able to help. The room was too small for her body to fit and the other Titans would eat her before she had a real chance to fight back. _I'm glad I didn't turn before, I'm more useful here with them all._

"We're all good. There's still only seven." Everyone took aim off the edge they were set up near. There was a change in the air as if everyone only now realized how critical it was to do this right. "Follow the plan!" Marco whispered, hoping to keep people calm. If anyone fired at the wrong time then the plan would go sour and it would cost lives if not everyone's.

The Titans began to take notice of them, too many people in one spot and they could smell them. It was not as if they were hiding, they wanted to be spotted, but when the first Titan looked at them, one side began to panic. Eva was on the opposite side when he heard someone stifle their own scream, Marco was quick to react. "Calm down! Lure them in closer!"

Heavy footfalls told them all the Titans were coming in, every last one saw them and was now making their way closer. They were not jumping to meet them in the lift, only approaching one foot in front of the other. Something about how calm they were made it all the more disturbing to look at them. Eva felt her skin crawl as she came face to face with a wild Titan.

It stared at them all ready to devour the whole lift if it could. _I wonder if this is how I looked to those people? Was I this gut wrenching to look at?_ Eva imagined looking into the face of her Titan and realized how horrifying that must be. As the target of this Titan she felt scared, but it had a rather human looking face. Eva as a Titan was missing some flesh, her face revealed her mismatched teeth. She felt sick and somehow thinking of her face in place of this wild Titan's made it easier to stomach the task at hand. _I want to shoot that stupid look off its face. I want it to feel pain, I hope this hurts you monster._

"Ready!" She heard the order and she had her finger on the trigger, ready to put this Titan down.

With one final slow step, "Fire!"

She fired directly into the eye of the Titan in front of her, all she heard were gunshots surrounding them and the Titan steam that began to envelop the lift. Now they had to rely on the others to finish the Titans off. At this point they could do nothing but hope.

The first Titan was struck by Mikasa, predictable as she is the fastest of the group. She called out but Eva could not hear beyond the fighting going on around them. More Titans fell and it began to look like everything had worked out as planned. Eva stood from the edge of the lift and realized her Titan was not dead. It looked at them and then turned around.

"Mikasa!" Eva called out, it was the only person she believed could be fast enough to handle the Titans.

"Sasha and Connie missed!"

"Hurry! Help them!"

Eva could see the Titan leave the lift and face Sasha and Connie, two Titans who found an easier meal then those in the lift. One lunged and she spotted Sasha jump out of the way just as Mikasa arrived and slashed the nape. Connie was watched over by Annie who quickly dealt with the other Titan. The two girls stood over the bodies of the Titans as the steam began to rise.

Everyone was tense, but saw the group on the ground all alive and well. No casualties and the plan had gone exactly as they all hoped it would. It was almost unbelievable that this worked out so well that not a single person died or was injured.

"Mikasa!" It was not a cry to alarm them, it was joyous. "You saved me!"

"We got them all! Everyone stock up on supplies!" Jean called out their success, confirming them that everything was handled.

The cadets on the lift cheered, happy to be out of the woods. Once they resupplied they would be able to stand up on their own again. When the lift was lowered and everyone rushed out they all went immediately for the compressed gas storage. Eva followed suit and started filling her own canisters. It would be a relief to be able to fly without fear of running out of gas again.

She has relied on her ODM gear in the past and still she always had a way out if it failed her. So far this was the scariest job she had ever done, but the execution of the plan went almost perfectly and Eva was thrilled to work with cadets brave enough to take matters into their own hands. The cadets took control and handled everything far better than anyone could have anticipated.

Many of them stuck out longer than the more experienced soldiers, having lived in the reality of facing Titans. These attacks, five years from each other, surprised everyone involved. The first time shook everyone from those impoverished to the wealthiest men and women in any city. Now with Trost attacked by the Titans it was amazing that the cadets held up so well.

Eva finished her canisters and began helping others refill theirs, anything to get out and back into the fight faster. She felt pride to be a part of the 104th cadets, she believed them to be far stronger than she ever hoped. With them doing so well she believed they could make this entire fight without needing her Titan.

"Are you okay?" A concerned voice interrupted her thoughts. Eva unhooked the canister as it just finished. "I know you got hurt, I wanted to check up on you. You said you were fine, but I've seen you limping... it's worse than what you'll tell me, right?" That was unquestionably Armin and, when she looked up, she saw a worried Armin already ready to leave.

"It's just fresh so it hurts a bit, but I'm fine enough for now." Right as Eva attempted to assure Armin she was fine, Marco approached her.

"I found the medical supplies they keep for injured soldiers, we can finally bandage your wound properly and clean it." He seemed excited to tell her this and Eva sighed. Marco got the tools ready, everything from the water to clean the wound and medicine to sterilize it. The bandages definitely looked more comfortable than the torn shirt material she had on now.

Agreeing that she needed the supplies to handle the wound, she removed her jacket and ruined shirt. Armin watched closely, his curiosity bested him. He wanted to be completely sure Eva was well.

"Sorry about this." Marco grimaced and began to peel off the bloodied rags from around her waist. She hissed and Marco paused a moment to give her a break. Quickly she waved his concern away, that he could continue. It was involuntary to twist as the rags came off the wound.

Armin's worried face got worse, he frowned upon seeing the mess of mangled flesh and blood. "It looks worse than it really is, it's just a flesh wound." Eva fought to laugh it off, but the more Marco did to help the harder it became.

"Eva..." Armin paused, sitting on the bench near her, staying out of the way as Marco worked to help.

He dipped a clean piece of cloth in the bowl of water and began to wash off her side. Once the blood was cleaned from around the wound it became clearer to Armin that it really was worse than she wanted him to know. "This will hurt, it's some medicine to help keep the wound clean. So... just be ready." Marco warned her, still giving her a patient smile.

"You didn't have to volunteer for this, you know?" Eva laughed and, as the medicine touched her side, she jumped back and gasped. "Wow- okay. So that's how it's going to be."

"Stop squirming," Marco tried to focus, he knew it hurt but it would be worse if they did nothing. "You couldn't do this alone, someone has to make sure it's done properly. I helped you before and I can do it again, we're in this together." He gently applied the medicine to her side. She held her breath as the burning hit its worst and her leg fidgeted, her knuckles turned white as she gripped the edge of the bench she sat on.

"There, now it just has to be wrapped up again." He placed a small amount of the medicine on the pad that was to go under the bandage and he carefully held it in place as he wrapped her torso up. "I know no one is going to stop you from going out there, but at least let me stay with you. You seem like you won't listen to anyone if you need help."

"Why do you say that? Do I look like someone who would refuse help?" Eva shook her head, "I'm sure I know when I need help."

"No, you look like the kind of person that feels like they don't need help." Marco smiled, setting the used supplies to the side, ready to take it away. "With that rampaging Titan outside we can push them back, just don't stress too much for me. I'm going to go with you and I'll _tell_ you when you need help."

She shrugged, "Alright, mom." Marco playfully glared at her as he walked away, leaving her to finish filling the canisters.

Once he left she slipped the ruined shirt back on and her uniform jacket, both still stained with her blood. These bandages were tighter, harder to move in, but felt far better than before. She would have to thank Marco for his help later on, when she has something to give him as a gift.

"That looks bad." Armin spoke up, "Can you fight like that?"

"Yes, Armin. I can." Eva hooked up the next canister to the pipe and began filling it. "It's going to be okay, you need everyone out there and I am more than capable of fighting. Even like this I can take down enough Titans to help out. Stop worrying about me, I'm sure you have more important things to check on. Like making sure everyone is ready to go; they look up to you and Jean. You guys give the order and we'll follow."

Armin knew she was done with the conversation, no matter how many ways he tried to say it, she was not going to listen. Instead of pressing more on the issue he stood up and went to look after everyone.

Once she was finally done with all the canisters she needed to do, she hooked her equipment back up and started heading out.

The cadets were close behind, the success they all had experienced retaking the supply room gave them what they needed to continue the fight. Instead of terrified begging like they had when they first saw the Colossus appear, they were battle hardened.

"Are you all ready? Let's get out of here!" The cadets banded together and began the fight again. There was talk of going back to regroup with the rest of the groups that were surviving out there. There were cadets carrying what they needed to resupply those out in the field.

Eva was close behind, sticking with the group she knew. Armin was ahead of her, but did not leave HQ yet. His focus was on a familiar person standing on the rooftops that the cadets passed by. "Mikasa?" Armin was always trying to look out for his friends and this time he knew something was definitely up. He swung himself up to the roof beside the girl.

Eva looked at the others beside her and shrugged, "Might as well." She went to join Armin and Mikasa on the roof. When she got up there with the duo she noticed they were both staring at something. Eva looked down onto the street and saw a group of Titans eating another one. _What is going on_? As far as Eva knew, Titans do not eat other Titans.

"What the hell is happening?" Eva slid down the roof to the edge, she knew of only one reason why Titans attacked another Titan. In her Titan form other wild Titans came after her the same as they would a human. _Is that a... person?_ Eva had no idea if there were others like her, but it would explain why these Titans were eating the other one. _No way, I don't know a lot about Titans anyways. Who knows what's actually going on._

"I thought uncovering the truth about that Titan might be the key to freeing ourselves from this desperate situation..." Mikasa voiced her opinion about the Titan being devoured. _I guess this is the Titan that's been fighting the other ones... Maybe it is a person..._

"I agree." Reiner weighed in, "If they just tip it to shreds like that, then we won't have learned a single thing. We should get rid of those Titans currently devouring it and at least try to keep it alive."

"Are you insane, Reiner?!" Jean disagreed loudly, turning to the group. "We can finally escape this deathtrap!"

"Don't you think it's worth trying, Jean?" Eva's heart beat faster, she felt like it was an argument that would take place over her if she showed herself to be a Titan. "If it's been helping this far, why not give it a chance?"

"But what if that Titan could become an ally?" Annie was usually distant and silent, it was unlike her to debate anything. "Don't you think it'd be a weapon more powerful than any cannon?"

"Our... ally? Are you for real?!" Jean could no believe what he was hearing from the other cadets. Before he could work to convince them otherwise, Armin broke up the conversation.

"That's... the abnormal that ate Thomas!" Armin identified the large Titan coming in, it was blonde, tall, and looked very thin. That creature looked weaker than the others, but an Abnormal is always more dangerous than the average Titan.

Just as Armin pointed that Titan out the Titan being eaten became enraged, roaring as it forced its way through the Titans devouring it. It was unable to get the Titans off of it, instead its arms were torn off, but it offered no thoughts about its missing limbs and was too determined to get that one Titan. Once it made it to the Abnormal it sunk its teeth into the neck and lifted it up.

No one moved, the rage of this beast was setting aside all other Titans and targeting one. He used the body as a weapon and smashed other Titans nearby before whipping it around and throwing it at another large Titan that approached. There were no other Titans to fight, it had in one way or another killed everything it could see.

It dropped the head of the Abnormal and reared its head back, letting out one final victorious roar. Then it unceremoniously fell to its knees, steaming, and it face first onto the street below. It was done, tired, and completely out of it.

"Hey... What was that about helping it?"

Everyone watched closely, almost hoping for it to move again. Eva, torn between whether or not it was human, stayed on the roof with the others. Making any move to the Titan could seem suspicious and, looking at this Titan, made her fear for her life and her secrets now more than ever.

"Looks like it burnt itself out." Jean was done watching though, "Whatever. Let's get going! There's no way that monster's on our side! Titans are Titans." Even with Jean's attempts at getting them off the roof, no one moved and inch, they were even more stricken with the creature than before.

"What is it?" Jean came back to see what they were so focused on now and saw steam rising from the body.

Eva saw her fears come true. _Someone... it's a person..._ She felt her heart drop. There were so many endings to this issue and she doubted any of them were good. A human controlled that beast and it was on their side, but was that enough to convince their leaders that who was inside this Titan was safe? Eva knew she was and would not harm another person, but it was not her decision.

When Mikasa leapt off the roof and ran across the street to the Titan below, Eva understood. _Eren..._ She zipped down to the street with Mikasa, watching as the girl ahead of her ran to the dead Titan body to recover her friend. Armin did not wait long before he joined them either.

 _I can't believe that kid is a Titan too. He hid it so well - so determined to fight Titans without fear. Maybe I missed the signs, all that bravado..._ She assumed it was blind trust in his own strength against the Titans. Now he showed it was backed up by a fifteen meter Titan that rampaged through the streets, killing any wild Titan that got in its way.

 _How the hell did this happen._


	11. Boundaries

_The Wolf's Lie_

* * *

Eva was pleased to have her wounds properly tended to by a medical professional. They were brought back from Trost to rest after their long struggle against the Titans. She remembered having to leave Eren, Mikasa, and Armin behind to answer questions. The military leaders on site wanted to question them about Eren's unique ability and how long he knew about it.

Mikasa and Armin were shocked to see Eren emerge from the Titan. It appeared to be genuine surprise, so Eva guessed they had no idea about Eren. The first few times she had turned into her Titan she was exhausted, completely unable to continue moving and was forced to hide so she could rest. Eren was passed out when they removed him from the body of his fallen Titan.

After a few times practicing with her Titan she was able to retain energy to move around without feeling exhausted. It took a long time, over two years, and she was able to enter and leave Titan state with no concerns. Eva practiced enough, she learned how to fight, move, and even sneak through the woods in Titan form. Her abilities as a Titan were strange to her, she had no reason to use them often, but when she was away from other wild Titans she tested her boundaries.

A few times she overused them and it hurt her Titan form and her human body. She remembered tasting the blood in her mouth and it trailing down her face. When she had found herself in a very tight spot and pushed herself extremely hard she remembered the red tears that streaked her face. There was pain only from how tired and used her body felt, she found herself too tired to move if she pressed herself.

There were limitations to her abilities, she could not abuse them. It was unfortunate that the one strength she had was her bone protrusions that she had limited control over. Eva knew the more she abused those bones the weaker she got. As such she resolved to use it only when she needed it most.

After having a nurse handle her injuries she felt far better than she had done. While she still felt rigid with the bandages on and the pain in her side, she was happy to be getting food and water and much needed rest.

The rest of the cadets were just as happy as she was. They all clamored for food and drink, the team taking time to themselves, reconnecting with survivors, and did any reports they needed to. Trost was broken but Wall Rose still stood, if the Armored Titan was to appear like it had done before, then it missed its opportunity. The soldiers had cut off the Titans from the main gate and so far there were no signs of the Armored Titan coming.

As they sat and chatted, Eva watched Jean closely. Reiner, Annie, and Bertoldt were there when they were ordered to leave and not say anything to people about what they had seen. Though that trio was less interested in spending time with the team and instead Eva's attention was focused entirely on Jean.

"I think they'll be alright." She leaned over the table, speaking quietly. "If not, we can do something about this. I know you're worried-"

"I'm not as concerned about them as you think." Jean answered, which surprised Eva somewhat. He was tense, she could see his jaw grinding his teeth. "If Eren can- if that was him and he can do that, I don't really think anyone can stop him _from_ doing it. I... just don't understand how it's possible in the first place. He saved us back there, he killed all those Titans alone _as one_. I can't tell if I trust him like that or think something else should be done."

Eva relaxed before standing up and walking around the table to sit with Jean. She respected the man, he was charismatic and while he resisted leadership, he was someone the other cadets looked up to for guidance. "Jean, I know it's hard to understand, but I'm entirely sure Eren is trustworthy. He could have taken out anyone he wanted to, Titan or human. He wanted the Titans dead, he's very loud about it. He's been yelling about it for three years."

Jean chuckled, "Yeah, I guess so." He and Eren bumped heads more than a few times, "But what does this mean for the rest of us? He'll become more important than any average soldier. Like he's all of a sudden special."

"Well, he is in a way." She sighed, "Look I won't say that it's good or bad that Eren can do what he can do. It's yet to be seen if he'll be helpful or if he can manage that body. If he is, he could help humanity in a way no soldier can. Not only can he fight for us, he can expand our knowledge of the Titans." She wanted to rationalize her own position in comparison to Eren's. He did not seem in control but she knew that she had complete control. If he could maintain himself during a fight then he could be priceless. Not to mention there were people who studied the Titans to better understand them.

"I know you're right. I just hope that kid knows what he's doing. He's not invincible just because he can _change_ like that." Jean and Eva were both doing what they could to _not_ say what Eren could do. If anyone overheard it would be a problem. "He'll still have to fight as hard as the rest of us."

"I believe he can help, I have to believe that." She emphasized without explaining her own agenda.

He shrugged the topic off, "Well, enough of Eren for now. I think I've had enough of the kid for one day. All anyone is talking about is ' _Eren this, Eren that_ ', I feel like there's more interesting things to talk about." It was a rather weak attempt to change the subject, but since they had nothing else to go on about Eren they had no choice. They would have to wait until things cleared up, until Eren could talk to them himself.

"Yeah, I guess. He's really been the center of attention lately. I suppose since graduation, his speech, got a lot of people talking about the Scouts and Eren." She remembered that night, but had not much cared for Eren's usual yelling going on. "I was never interested in what he had to say. I mostly wanted food, water, and roof over my head. The military was a good place to go."

Jean raised a brow, "Huh? You joined the cadets just to have that?"

"I was a refugee beforehand, not many places that took in a homeless refugee with no money and no trade skills to offer. People were already tight on food and money anyways." Eva did not mind that people had to make their own way, it just made it a little harder to get by. "As you can imagine food was not a commodity I had."

Jean was not the kind of person to give someone the usual pity, he preferred to make things light. After today, he did not feel like one for jokes. "It was pretty rough on the refugees. I know Eren, Mikasa, and Armin were refugees too, Eren made sure everyone knew." He laughed, reminiscing. "First night he told everyone they thought it was amazing that he'd seen Titans, that he saw the Colossus... Most of those cadets are gone now." No matter his attempts to change the mood, he was unable to ignore the things they had seen.

"It's true, a lot of them are dead and more are going to die before this all ends. I'll do whatever I can do help these people; save as many as you can, but don't focus on the ones we lost." Eva bumped her shoulder against Jean, "I remember Mina trying to talk to me all the time, greeted me on the first day. She really wanted to talk to me, include me in some weird inner circle of friends people had going on."

Jean, a little off put, realized that Eva was helping distract him. "Yeah, all I can think about is how you avoided everyone. It was funny listening to the other cadets talk about you like they knew who you were and where you came from. They did it to everyone, but you were the one person who never satisfied their curiosity. Only thing people knew for certain is that you came from Shiganshina."

"Guess so, I was not big on making friends." Eva answered his own veiled curiousness. "I liked to keep to myself, just not a sociable person."

"You seem to be sociable now." He stated, "What changed? You've approached more people in the last two days than you have in three years. And don't say it was because of today, you were talking to Eren, Armin, and Mikasa before. You weren't secretive about that, I saw you talk to them. So why now?"

Eva tapped her nails on the table, leaning on her other hand. "I didn't want to build friendships with people I was never going to see again. I wanted to go to the Survey corps from my first day, it was always my goal. It just so happened that Eren's plan and my own lined up. So I talked to them, got a bit closer to them. I knew I would have to work with them as a team. Figured that you had to know your teammates to trust them."

"Seems reasonable." Jean put down his cup, still too far in thought to escape. The events they survived through cut too deep. "You did good out there, a lot better then I thought you would."

"Talking down from your position in the top ten?" Eva sat up straight and gave him a sarcastic look.

"No no, I mean- You didn't exactly excel at anything. I'm not judging, but I did what I could to be the best for that top ten spot." Jean ran a hand over the back of his neck nervously, "Don't take it wrong, but you didn't exactly do well in training."

Eva grinned, "Guess I just do better in action."

Jean blinked and looked at her confused, "Guess so." He did not really believe her, but he had nothing to go on. Eva so rarely mingled with the other cadets it was hard to understand who she is and what she was doing in training. Jean knew nothing else about her only that she was from Shiganshina and she was going to the Survey corps. She was one of the few people he had no real opinion about, nothing to tell him that she was a good or bad person. Not that he minded, but everyone in training introduced themselves one way or another.

"You stuck it out back there, you didn't back down like most of the cadets did." Jean commented, recalling the events in Trost whenever he saw her. "You said you can't lead, but have you ever even tried to?"

Eva glanced up to Jean before dodging his gaze. "Well, no. I haven't. I don't think I'm cut out for leadership."

"That's what I thought, but you put a lot of faith in me and Armin. Neither of us had any experience and you know that. You encouraged us to continue, everyone did. Marco, Mikasa, Connie... Everyone thought that I could lead them and Armin could plan for anything. I don't get it, why rely on someone who has no idea what to do." His eyes narrowed, "And you know like the rest of them that I had no idea what I was doing out there."

Eva knew only that she did not feel like a leader, she felt like being alone was better, safer. It was this itch in the back of her head that made her feel able when she fought alone. "Armin is intelligent. He considers his options, makes new ones that no one else can see, and properly gauges the best path in front of him. He can do it on the spot and has no idea he can do it. He was right about Eren when he was changed and about retaking the supply room."

"He's a good kid, he's definitely a good strategist." Jean agreed, still waiting for her answer about himself.

"I think you're someone the people will listen to. People tend to be around you, whenever I saw you there was always other cadets talking to you. You have character, charisma. The others respond well to you and they want to be around you. When you talk to them, they listen." She had seen Jean around and he was very social, the other cadets enjoyed having him around. "If you give it a chance I'm sure they'd respect you as a team leader easily."

"Charisma?" Knowing Jean he did exactly what she thought he would do. It immediately went to his head. "Well, I guess I just have a way with people." He went back into the usual Jean she remembered from training.

She pinched the bridge of her nose, "I meant it as a compliment, not to be taken lightly. But you do you, Jean."

"Jean!" The call brought Eva and Jean out of their own thoughts. "Don't tell me Mikasa was wounded?" It was Ymir with the others, they had been talking between themselves for a while. Eva was not too interested in retelling their survival through Trost, it was unpleasant, riddled with Titans, and a lot of people had been eaten. Nothing more to tell as far as Eva was concerned.

"We were sworn to keep it secret." The group reacted in disbelief and though Jean agreed, no one could say anything yet. "It's hardly something they can keep covered up though. Soon all of mankind will know about it. If mankind survives long enough, that is."

Just as the group began to discuss this mysterious disappearance of Mikasa, an explosion shook them and startled everyone on the street. Eva and the others jumped to their feet, watching the smoke rise from where the blast came from. It was not far, the group that saw Eren recognized it as the spot they were ordered to leave Eren, Mikasa, and Armin at.

Every person was on their feet, most of them fearful of Titans, there were murmurings of the Armored Titan finally appearing. If it had been the terrifying Titan, the gate would be shattered. Eva wasted no time, she could not wait around while the regiments held them hostage. _I knew they'd never let him go without some serious questions, I didn't think they'll kill him._

Eva switched to her ODM gear and flew off, those on the ground watched her go and it did nothing to calm them. She heard her name being called by the few around her, but she ignored them. Eva shared a unique ability with Eren, she felt this strange sympathy with him for it. She did not know him well enough to consider him a friend, but she felt responsible for someone that was like her.

They all recognized the sound of a cannon firing, but it was a single cannon and it was at Eren's last location. Eva sprinted over the roof tops, anxious to get to the trio before it was too late.

"Hey!" That voice came out of nowhere before she saw Reiner catching up to her. When she looked behind her she saw the team behind her, all rushing to the same place she was.

Eva smiled and looked at Reiner to which he returned, she gave him a thankful nod and engaged her ODM gear to fly faster over the rooftops. Everyone was close and they all wanted to know what was happening. When they all finally reached the edge of the roof overlooking the soldiers below, all they saw was smoke and Titan steam. It was unmistakable, something bad was down there.

"What the hell is going on?" Reiner tried to make sense of it just as much as anyone, though no one could answer him. Eva could explain it, the soldiers must have fired a cannon at them, or someone did, and Eren used his Titan to save himself and his friends. It was the only explanation as to why there was a slowly dissipating Titan hand sticking out of the smoke and steam that aimed directly at a cannon on the wall.

As the steam and smoke slowly started to thin out, they saw Armin run from the smoke. He was unarmed entirely, no swords or rifles on his person. He didn't even have his ODM gear on.

"Stop!" Hollered a Garrison soldier below them and Armin stopped with his hands up. He was trying to show them he meant no harm, but if the soldiers knew about Eren they were unconcerned about Armin. "You finally showed your true colors, monster! I'll signal! I'll signal the cannon!"

"He isn't the enemy of mankind!" Armin shouted at the man. "We're willing to share all the intelligence we've gathered!" He offered patience with the soldiers and it was clear that they were far too disturbed to understand.

"Begging for your lives is useless now! He revealed his true form right in front of us! There's nothing left to say! If you say he's not an enemy, prove it! If you can't do that, I will eliminate the threat!"

This was the cowardice cries of a man too scared to listen. Eva saw the Garrison soldiers below listening to this man in charge, he was scared out of his mind and had no rational thought. He could no longer control his fear of the Titans. _Figures the soldiers that were around before the Titans began to attack again are the ones incapable of functioning when faced with a Titan._ This is exactly what she was worried about when showing herself as a Titan, they're mindless and know nothing but their own demons.

"There's no need for further proof!" Armin was doing his best, but he was arguing against a madman. "The issue isn't how _we_ see him! You said everybody saw him! Then they must've seen him fighting the Titans too! And they must've seen all the Titans ganging up against him! The Titans see him as prey, just like the rest of mankind! Nothing you say can change that fact!"

Eva worried that no matter what Armin said or did, they were too fearful to believe that Eren was not a threat. Then, to her surprise, the soldiers began to relax and talk to each other. They agreed with Armin, lowered their weapons, and began to contemplate having a Titan as an ally. It was not hard to believe as the Titans also attacked Eren on the streets of Trost and he did all he could to kill them.

The soldiers believed Armin more than they believed their commanding officer's fear. There was a few moments of just the soldiers talking, deciding, until the hysterical madman spoke again. "Prepare to attack! Don't fall for this clever trap! Their actions have always been beyond our comprehension! If they can transform into humans and speak our language, that's just another way for them to fool us! We can't let them do as they please!"

He stopped the soldiers and they all took up their arms and readied for their orders. _It wasn't enough._ Eva was caught between going down there with them and staying where she was, allowing the situation to play out.

 _If this goes bad, if he tries to fire again..._ Eva gulped, she readied her ODM gear. _Stop him._

"As a soldier, I swore to devote my heart to the resurrection of mankind! There is no greater glory than dying for that belief! If we added his Titan power to the might of our armies, it might even be possible to recapture the town! For the glory of the human race, I beg you! In my final moments before I die, permit me to explain his strategic importance!"

She saw something happening below, "Silence!" The man shouted, he sounded entirely unhinged. Eva saw his hand raise and she fired her gear without a second thought. _Don't let him do this._

"Eva!"

Her hooks dug into the stone beside the Garrison soldier in charge, her blades raised and ready to cut the moment she got close enough. She was flying down from the rooftops, those behind her called for her, and those below followed the trail of the cords that struck near their commanding officer.

"From the roof!"

It felt as though time was so slow she could see every man and woman's reaction to her sudden decision to cut this man down. Eva had no intentions of killing him, an injury of any sort would be enough to halt this sickening betrayal.

As unwilling as she was to say it, she liked them a lot. Armin, Mikasa, Eren, Jean, Reiner, Bertoldt, Annie, Connie, Ymir, Krista, and all those that died in the battle for Trost. She liked their company, it made her feel human, it made her different than who she was. Eva thought staying away from people brought her safety and, it did truly, but it made her miserable. She wanted that human connection and now that she had it, she was not about to let this man take it away.

In those few moments a man appeared, he was bald had walked in on this scene before Armin finished his pleas. He did not seem concerned and Eva had no idea who he was. But by the time she jumped to stop the man that intended to kill her friends, the new arrival took his arm in his hand and everyone froze.

Eva diverted her path and hit the ground a little too hard. Her side lit in pain, she had no intentions of landing properly on the ground, only getting to the man before he ordered another cannon shot to kill them. When she landed, the soldiers on the ground stepped back. A few had spotted her coming in once they heard her hooks crack the ground around their commanding officer.

"Cut it out already."

The voice was a shock to everyone involved. It felt as though every person froze in place, waiting to see what happened next. "You haven't changed. As big as you are, you've still got the guts of a scared fawn." His arm was lowered and there was no cannon fire, everyone relaxed and lowered their weapons. This man stopped everything.

"Commander Pixis?"

Eva nearly had a heart attack seeing that the Commander of the Garrison showed up and did not appear to be as frightened as the other man. Eva rested on her knee, feeling particularly unable to stand up alone. She allowed her ODM gear to lead her full speed into the ground and it was a bad idea, considering that the ODM gear was not intended to use directly straight down.

He paused and glanced at her, but made no direct action against her. "Can't you see how magnificent his salute is?" He stepped forward, passing the other panicking man. "I just arrived, but the situation has already been relayed to me. You go organize the reinforcements. I think it'd be worthwhile to hear what they've got to say."

Eva held her side, she felt the bleeding start back up. She hit the ground far too hard to come away fine. _It was lucky, either the Commander stopped him or he would've lost that arm._

Armin collapsed, relieved to know this struggle was over. All the soldiers visibly relaxed with him, releasing that deep breath they were all holding. The Commander saved lives by so quickly calming down the situation.

Eva used her strength to stand up and began to stumble. It was hard to move with the wound that was finally soothing over and she ruined whatever careful stitching had gone into it. _I'll have to get it stitched again, I didn't do it any favors._ "Eva," Jean and the others came down from the roofs, attracting only more attention to their injured friend.

"I'm fine, just hit the ground too hard." She tried to assure them she was fine, but her own injury bleeding through the bandages was undermining her intentions.

"What, what is this?!" The man turned around, finally coming to notice Eva's attempt on his physical well being. "You-you attacked your Captain?"

The Commander Pixis did not appear concerned, though her sudden appearance did not slip passed him. "Leave them be, Captain. These cadets just fought through the Titans in Trost, I'm sure it was only an accident, isn't that right?"

"Yes, just an accident. S-she wanted to come tell you that Armin is right." Jean defended Eva. She only looked at him questionably, "She's in stitches from her ordeal in Trost, bloodloss and all. We'll be going."

"Very well, these cadets have things to discuss with me. We'll take the lift up the Wall, I want to hear his plan." Commander Pixis started to walk down the stairs, giving Eva a free opportunity to get out and escape punishment for what was going to be a treasonous attack on their Captain. Instead, Jean pulled her away hoping to leave fast and be forgotten.

* * *

Eva sat on another bench, being stitched up by another nurse who was just as indignant about the issue at hand as Jean was.

"What were you thinking?" He huffed, running a hand down his face. Reiner, Annie, and Bertoldt were nearby, Eva could only see Reiner taking part in Jean's scolding. "That was dangerous, they would've charged you with treason. You took an attempt on the Captains life."

"He was trying to murder three cadets with no other reason than _because he was scared_. Even Commander Pixis said it, called him out on it and took Eren and them away." She hissed and, looking down at the nurse, noticed that the woman was hearing the conversation and was remarkably nervous about the ordeal. "I was not about to let him kill them, they're good people and they did nothing wrong. Of course, humanity could use Eren's ability, he's priceless to our efforts against the Titans. Don't you think it was worth the risk?"

Jean threw his hands up, "Well I don't know, I wasn't exactly given the time to react. You just _jumped_ at the chance to cut down a Captain of the Garrison. If the Commander had not shown up-!"

"But he did." Reiner added, "And we're all fine. Eva did what she thought was right and I can't see myself attacking him, Eren's far too valuable to the war effort to lose." Eva tried to give him the most appreciative look she could and he understood.

"Fine, we got away this time, but you say something before rushing off like that again." Jean warned, upset about everything that just happened.

"What, like asking permission, sir?" Eva teased the frustrated man in front of her. When he heard her he pouted even more, leaning against the post of the overhang.

"You know what I mean." He shrugged her off, letting the poor stressed nurse to finish her work. She listened to a conversation entirely about treason by killing a Captain of the Garrison; the poor girl was beyond lost and paced herself to get away from these cadets.

"Yes, sir." She mumbled, earning herself a glare by Jean. Without speaking, he turned around and left.

Reiner watched Eva's stitching be finished and the bandaging wrapped back around her wound. She rubbed the sore skin as best as she could and felt happy she had a clean shirt, pants, and jacket again. It was odd walking around with her own blood all over her clothing.

When done, Eva stood up slowly, feeling shaky on her own two feet. Reiner offer her a hand, but she stuck it out. She would have to stand on her own, likely this was not the end of their day. If anything, Eva felt like she would have to be debriefed with the other cadets and explain what happened to her squad, the resupply squad, and the Colossus Titans appearance.

"I think you did right by them, Eren is far too valuable to lose to that guy." Reiner crossed his arms, his usual half smile on his face. "I don't think the rest of us would have done that, at least, not on a split second decision... When he raised his arm to fire, you were already gone."

Eva paused, "Yeah, I guess so." She continued to buckle in her ODM gear. It was a little dinged up from previous events, but fully functional.

His mouth twitched, "You jumped at a chance to kill, or at least maim another person. That's a serious choice to make. How the hell did you just _do_ it." He was curious, but not suspicious of her. Reiner took time to think about things that he witnessed and this did not make much sense to him. Eva agreed with him on that, it did not make sense.

"I don't know, all I knew was if he gave the order they'd be dead. I decided I wanted him to stop - I didn't intend to kill him, just... a cut in the right place would do." Eva attempted reason, yet it sounded less and less the more she spoke. It was understandable to stop someone from hurting, or in this case killing, her friends. It's different to directly choose to assault a person.

"Maybe it would or would not have killed him. Maybe it was the day we had, fighting Titans like that; puts a lot of stress on people. I just... even after all that, I don't see how you could've managed just go through with it like that." He scratched his head, "I guess there's more to you than I thought." Reiner had his usual grin on his face.

Eva remained silent, she did not want to think about her decision. _I did try to attack him, but I never wanted to kill him. I just wanted him to stop_. She slipped her jacket on since all her buckles were in place. _I actively chose to harm another human being as a human being._

She turned around and faced Reiner, nodding to him that she was ready to go. Once he exited the tent they all saw soldiers heading closer to the Wall. _I wanted to kill him though, I was angry at him for being such a coward. We were all lucky that Pixis showed up when he did._

"They're calling the soldiers in line, time to go." Jean answered Reiner and Eva's questioning looks.

 _Be more careful, people might see that as an act of Titan aggression. If they find out, they'll hold it against me._ She sighed, joining the ranks as they all lined up. She remained with her squad, everyone closely in view. Jean on one side, Reiner on the other. She could see Ymir and Krista down the next line. _I didn't even think about the man though. How it would harm him, ruin his military career. If he died... why can't I care?_

She took slow deep breaths. _I didn't care if he lived or died. I wanted him out of the way. There's no reason someone should be so willing to do such a thing._ Eva shook her head and stood at attention when the call was given taking short glances around her.

 _What's going on?_


	12. Retaking Trost - Fixed

_The Wolf's Lie_

* * *

 _Guess who's comin' to town..._

 ** _AwesomeName:_** _Thanks, you're officially the first reviewer. I'm doing this story for fun and my own enjoyment, but I'm hoping readers will find the same entertainment from it that I do. :)_

 _ **I** **apologize for the mistake publishing part of an unfinished chapter that was included at the end of this one. It is NOT the actual end to this chapter and was a mistake when uploading from my Word documents.**_

 _ **I have removed the end section of this chapter and will include the intended progression to the story in the next chapter.**_

 ** _Thank you for your patience._**

* * *

When Pixis approached the inner edge of the wall, Eva could see Eren with him. She was pleased to see that he was standing there saluting. It made her feel as though he was unharmed and Pixis had no ill will to Eren.

The entire crowd was talking, nagging the same thing over and over again. They were scared that they were being sent to Trost, the other soldiers calling them into line informed them of the Commander's decision to retake Trost. No one knew how to react, they lost Trost even though so many fought as hard as they could, but it was a first time effort on the cadets part. This time they were to have more Garrison reinforcements.

 _Wish the Survey corps were here..._ Eva groaned, _They know how to fight the Titans._ She saw the Garrison soldiers around her and they all looked at scared as the cadets. Eva was ready to do this, Eren was caught as a Titan and, if the Commander was ready to accept Eren perhaps he would feel the same to her. It was hopeful, but it was time to see how this played out. The Commander was stepping up to the edge of the Wall now.

No one was hiding how scared they were. Even her allies looked as distressed about this decision, they had no idea how this was going to work. Eva suspected those who knew about Eren also realized that this was only happening because the Commander knew about Eren too. They rest of the cadets and Garrison troops would have to understand this one way or another.

 _I can help this time. They need all the strength they can and having a second Titan working for them would be valuable._ Eva looked up, in line, and waited for her orders.

The longer they waited, the more people that broke. She heard panic, screams, begging from cadets and soldiers who tried their hardest to get away. People started talking and those that overheard panicked even more. It began to get out of hand, Eva saw all the soldiers around her begin to break under the weight of this stress. The first person to back away cracked the ice on the others and they started to move away.

"They're going to cause a mass panic. They'll all desert at this rate." Eva whispered to Jean and Reiner beside her.

"This is bad, they're backing out before the plans are even put in front of them." Jean replied, taking note of the soldiers who buckled and turned to leave. "It's bad, they'll be executed for this."

" ** _Attention!_** "

Eva stood straighter than she had done, the voice was loud even from the top of the wall and it pierced all the hysteria going on through the soldiers. Everyone paused and looked up above the gate. Commander Pixis arrived and suddenly the outcry from the soldiers stopped.

"I will now brief you about the operation for retaking Trost! The goal of this operation is to block the shattered Gate!" The Commander spoke and just like that, the soldiers reacted in complete confusion. They responded by quiet whispers, questioning the plan and the Commander's sanity.

"As for the means of blocking it, I shall now introduce him. Eren Yeager of the cadets!" Eren stepped forward and saluted. Eva felt a twinge of worry for him, it was not long ago Eren went with Commander Pixis. Whatever plan they had was made on the fly and she had no idea how to feel about that. "He's the product of the military's top secret Titan transformation experiments! He can summon a Titan body and control it at will!"

Eva frowned, _That's not true in the slightest. He is just as confused as the rest of the soldiers as to how Eren can turn into a Titan._ She looked around, the murmurs switched from the insanity of retaking Trost and now the Commander's mental health. Everyone doubted him and this news shocked them all. _He must be trying to use it as a reason to not be concerned about Eren as a Titan. Trying to give the illusion of military control to calm them all down._

"He will transform into a Titan, pick up that giant boulder near the front gate, carry it to the breach in the wall, and block off the hole with it!" Commander Pixis sounded confident in his plan and Eren did not appear to be blindsided by this plan. _Armin..._ Eva thought, he was up there with them and when the Captain tried to kill them, he did defend Eren saying he would be useful from a military position.

"Your mission will be to protect him from the other Titans while he's carrying the boulder!" From there it was audible from the soldiers that they had no faith in this plan. People began to openly talk again, doubts strewn about were striking them too deep from such a fresh wound like Trost.

In the distance, as people talked, she heard a loud cry. "You lie! I won't throw my life away for such nonsense! Who do you think we are?! We're not just disposable blades!"

The soldiers tried to rationalize this issue heard him and all listened. As if their own personal opinions were overpowered by the fears of others. It was disheartening to watch so many begin to turn away.

"So you want us to die for you today? I'm leaving!" The man ahead of them exclaimed, believing the plan to be bunk and turned away. The girls that were beside him agreed to leave and ran to catch up with the deserters. Eva felt herself sweating a bit from how many people were leaving, the more that abandoned them the more dangerous this mission would become.

"Are you prepared, deserters?! I'll cut you all down here and now!" It was the Captain from before that surprised Eva, he was an absolute coward, but he was standing against desertion and even pulled his blade on them. Eva remained in place, still ready to continue the fight for Trost.

"Heed my command!"

Commander Pixis voice drew the attention of everyone, once again stopping the deserters in their tracks. "Anyone who deserts right now will go unpunished!" Everyone expressed bewilderment, no one understood Pixis reasoning. "Once you've given in to your fear of the Titans, you will never be able to fight them again! Anyone who has succumbed to the terror of the Titans should leave! And anyone who wants that very same terror to reach the hearts of their brothers, parents, and loved ones may leave as well!"

From there, Eva saw how conflicted so many were upon hearing Pixis speak. Many paused, thought, and weighed how terrified they were against how brave they could be. If this plan were to work the heroism of everyone involved would be remembered for decades, but what was more important to the masses than their pride was their families. Many resided in Wall Rose and if the Titans breached this gate, they would likely die.

It was not an internal struggle that lasted long. Eva saw them turn around and take their place in order. Commander Pixis was not giving them a rallying cry like the ones they received in Trost, but rather allowed them to understand their position if Wall Rose's gate to Trost was shattered like gates in Shiganshina. It quickly put them on the right path again.

"Let's talk about what happened four years ago. About the Wall Maria recapture operation! I'm sure I don't have to remind you all." Eva looked around, everyone understood him. _What the hell is he talking about?_ "Calling it a "recapture operation" was just sugarcoating it. It was merely a desperate attempt by the government to dispose of the unemployed refugee masses they couldn't feed! Everybody swallowed that for one sole reason, by sending those people outside the Wall, we managed to survive inside its narrow confines!"

Eva flinched, _I didn't know about this. Where was I when all this happened? Why didn't I get purged with them?_ She could not recall a time when this was going on. She knew people had left to go outside the walls, but did not know about how many died and what it was for.

"That sin is borne by all mankind, including myself! Conflict didn't erupt then because the people of Wall Maria were a minority. But what about now? If Wall Rose falls, just throwing away a fifth of mankind wouldn't be enough! The area inside Wall Sina can only support half of mankind!" Eva felt a heavy weight on her heart, she knew it was bad, but never knew how big the Walls were.

"If mankind itself falls, the onslaught of the Titans will not be the cause! We will fall because of men killing one another! We cannot die inside yet another Wall. Given the choice, die here!" Pixis now rallied them, giving them an almost patriotic reason to fight this battle with him. Taking this chance was a job everyone had to bare.

"Since the Titans first emerged, not once has mankind won against them! The Titans keep marching forth and we keep retreating, letting them take our land! However, when this plan succeeds, it'll be the first time we've ever reconquered land from the Titans! And in that moment, for the first time, mankind will triumph over the Titans!" Eva thought the Commander sounded so entirely sure of this plan, he expressed himself and his intentions clearly. He wanted to win, to beat the Titans.

"Compared to what's been taken from us, it may be a small thing... But it will mean mankind has finally managed an attack on the Titans!" Without this attempt to retake Trost, if the gate was broken and Titans entered Wall Rose it would mean chaos for all survivors.

* * *

The lifts were being filled with soldiers and supplies, some climbing the wall with their ODM gear. The plan was to get a large number of people on the wall to lure the Titans to them. Their position was on the far opposite side of the wall from where Eren and his elite force had to go. With majority of the Titans attracted to the wall, Eren and his team would encounter less Titans as he carried the boulder to the broken gate.

It sounded risky and Eva knew she could never lift that boulder as a Titan, but Eren's Titan looked built for heavy lifting far more so than herself. At the same time, she assumed he was much slower than she was in her Titan form.

Jean and the others were getting in a lift together, to go to the top of the wall and prepare for the plan. She was beside them, holding her injured side as usual. The stitches held her together, but stress would not do her well. She would have to be careful, but if she could get to Commander Pixis than it could not matter. Eva intended on helping Eren, two Titans working together for this goal.

With Commander Pixis on their side she hoped it would mean that they understood their positions regardless of their Titan abilities. Eren was already on thin ice and Eva was an unknown, if she showed her skill now; it could be priceless and help ensure the success of the mission more than any soldier could do.

Her heart pounded, afraid of meeting the Commander again after her attempt on the Captain and now telling him that she was a Titan too. She would swear her loyalty to humanity if it helped at all, but she knew this plan was drawn up quickly and they had no idea how well it would work.

No matter how many Titans that were in Trost were lured in to the wall the soldiers would be on, there were still Titans pouring in from the outside. The smell of humans was enough to alert a Titan far away and they all came stumbling in through the breach. The longer it took to set this plan up, the more that filtered in Trost which risked the security of the mission.

If Eren was bitten and a certain line of muscles torn, he would be unable to lift the boulder. He can heal but it would take time and it put everyone at risk.

 _This time I am most useful as a Titan, I can help secure the completion of this mission._ She was determined, ready to play her part. _I can do so much for them and they would not have to risk so much._

When the lift finally touched down and it was their turn to step on, he felt a hand on her chest.

"You should sit this one out." It was Jean, Marco right beside him. "You're no good to us injured, heal up and we'll see you fight another day." He insisted, closing the lift behind them.

"Jean, it isn't that bad!" She tried to argue, but Marco was beside him.

"Eva I saw how bad you were hurt, it's not something you can walk off. You have to heal before you can fight again, you'll get yourself killed out there." He was truly worried, concern evident on his face. "Please, for us, stay here. Sir, if you would?" Marco asked the Garrison soldier standing beside her.

"Come on, soldier." The man acknowledged, seeing the bandages around her waist for himself.

"No, I can go! Marco, Jean, you don't understand!" He hand his hand on her arm as the lift began to raise up. "Don't leave me down here, I have to do this! I can fight!" She struggled, stepping forward as the soldier held her back. "I can help Eren, I need to talk to Commander Pixis!"

"You've been holding your side all day, just accept it. You don't have to be brave, we know you are." Marco appeared genuinely sad watching her fight on the ground. "Please, just get some rest and get better!"

"We'll be back, don't worry about us!" Jean called out, hoping to calm her down. _I'm not worried about you guys. I'm worried about the mission!_

She was stuck, the Garrison soldier called over another to help keep her still. "They're right, you look pretty beat up. I'm going to take you back to the infirmary beds and you can rest it off there. Consider yourself lucky, a lot of soldiers here want an excuse not to go out there." He spoke calmly and began to pull her away from the lift. As much as she tried to fight it, they were not letting her go.

Forced to leave, she watched them raise the lift before they lead her away from the wall. Other soldiers stared at her as she was removed.

They walked her through the crowd and away from all the noise. The infirmary tent was not far and all she had to do was use her ODM gear to climb the wall after they left. It was a tense few moments, she had to consider her options if they decided to keep her there under guard. They each held one arm and made sure she had no choice about where she was going.

The more time that passed the more frustrated she was. Eva knew that she could help Eren and beat back the Titans with his squad. Her help could save lives, if she only was there with them. The mission had not begun yet, they would start going soon as Eren and his squad would have to round Trost entirely. The others had to pack into one spot and attract the Titans.

There were other squads tasked with luring in more Titans to the wall away from Eren. Eva wanted to be near Eren for this, it would be excessively difficult trying to keep Titans off of another Titan. This was a job she could do.

Inside the infirmary tent and nurse stepped up to her, "Tore your stitches again?" Her tone signified how tired she was hearing about soldiers doing this.

"She needs to stay here and she insists on going to join the battle efforts." One soldier answered, "Keep her here."

"What? How do you expect me to do that?" She jolted, "I can't contain a well trained soldier down without other soldiers to help and everyone has gone to the wall for the plan to retake Trost." She sounded indignant about their suggestion if a bit nervous about how she would keep a soldier on the ground.

The soldiers looked at each other, "Good point." He reached out and began to unhinge her gear. "We'll make it easy and remove her ODM gear."

Eva jumped back, "You can't take my gear!"

"We can and we are." He unbuckled the canister gear and pulled it off to the side, the other soldier removed the gear on her back. "You can't go out there when you're in this shape. Every soldiers job is to stay alive in and out of battle. Stay here, you'll be able to fight next time." They carried the gear in their arms, nodding to the nurse behind Eva.

"Right then, time to get you down." She rested a hand gently on Eva's shoulder and, without her ODM gear, she could not climb the wall. Even if she made it to a lift she would require another soldier to let her up. If she showed up with no ODM gear she would be removed from the field entirely, they would know something was up.

 _How do I get there, how can I get to them in time?_

The nurse sat her on a bed, water on a table beside her. She knew Eva would not relax, she was far too stressed to try. Instead, she gave her comforts and allowed her to rest. The tent had one conventional exit through the same way she came in, but she could get out by slipping under the tent 'walls.'

 _I can get out of here easy enough, but how do I get up there? How can I get through the people without being caught?_ She knew those two soldiers had more important work to do, they had been part of a team writing off a check list on the soldiers and supplies that went up to the wall. They also rarely had to remove injured soldiers from the field, though this was not something they were really accustomed to.

They took her gear, but she had other means.

 _Should I?_ She took a look to the nurse tending the tent, there were other soldiers in here with her. Most of them worse off than her. _I can climb the wall as a Titan, it isn't hard. Would they... attack? I'd be coming from inside the wall. They would likely know..._

The nurse looked around and saw her sitting there, _Either way my first step is to get out of here._

Eva grabbed her water, drank as much as she could and stood up. The nurse would likely see her gone soon, but there was not much she could do to stop her. As far as she could get was the wall, after that she would decide. All the soldiers were too busy to look for one lightly injured soldier who left the infirmary tent. She had a chance to leave.

As the nurse spoke to another injured and delirious soldier, Eva lifted the edge of the tent and slipped away. She did not want to risk being seen on her way out, she wanted to hide the path she took in case there was a soldier who stayed behind since Pixis said any deserters would not be punished. Just to be safe she jogged down the closest alleyway and immediately made her way to the wall.

There were some soldiers on the ground around still loading supplies. She had to go unseen to the best of her ability, there was no telling what their reaction would be if they saw her and while displaying herself as a Titan could be risky, it was the only way up the wall now.

She put distance between herself and the section of the wall crawling with soldiers. Following the wall she eventually reached an area empty of everyone, civilian or soldier. People had already left the area with the fear of the Armored Titan's appearance, it served Eva well to be alone as she turned into her Titan.

With no proper gear, bandages covering a wound on her side it was clear she did not belong. Now that she was away from the soldiers she began to unwrap her bandages and allowed herself to heal. The steam rising from her wound only solidified her goal, no matter what happened now, someone would catch on that a wound that bad would not just disappear.

She had no chance to hide it when someone who knew she was injured comes back, like Marco, Jean, and Armin.

 _Armin!_ She looked up the wall. Standing at the base of the wall, Eva took careful consideration of her options. _Armin understands, he's smart and he'll be here on the wall. It's his plan and they'll have him calling shots when he has to. If I can display a non-aggressive act then they will likely see where I am coming from. Armin will command me to where I'll be most use._

She looked around and saw her unfinished wound, it was not healed entirely yet. Eva took a line of her stitching and pulled it until it popped, it stung somewhat, but she was sure the wound served her purpose enough.

There was nothing in between her and her mission anymore, the soldiers were on the other section of the wall and she was alone and ready to do what she had to.

 _Let's hope they understand._ Eva focused on her task, _If they allow me the time, I can salute them to show what side I'm on, but I can't climb up where all the soldiers are, I would risk crushing them._ She had avoided the soldiers so far and was already in a perfect position to change and begin climbing the wall.

 _Come on, you know this is the best way to help. If Eren is attacked they'll lose this_. Eva reversed, watching her steps. _They have no idea how many Titans are coming in from the outside and were risking a lot without enough information to make that risk._

Eva was sure of what to do, her worry about being attacked was a valid issue, but a salute would tell them all they needed to know. Titans are mindless creatures and any sentient action would set her apart from the rest. _Turn, climb, salute. It's easy, do it!_


	13. The Wolf among Sheep

**The Wolf**

* * *

 _Opening with the appearance of a new titan.  
Will work on reference guide to display Eva's titan appearance, might help visualize her body and movements. ;)_

 _Well, the wolf is no longer in sheep's clothing so the title of this chapter has changed._  
 _Say hello to Eva's titan form! :D_

 _Extra long chapter, just below 10K words. Enjoy~_

* * *

Time passes slowly when adrenaline hits or when an event comes to pass. Excitement, the rush, fear, or plain confusion makes the human mind work overtime. The reason this feeling appears is during this rush of adrenaline the brain works to process a large amount of information faster than it would normally. In a situation where adrenaline is coursing through the body it gives the feeling that everything is moving in slow motion, in reality that person is gathering information, images, and solving problems in mere seconds.

In this case the _boom_ , shake, and light from _behind_ the wall instigated this situation. While on edge already, adrenaline the top contributor for the soldier's energy and determination; this new addition made everything far more pressing than imagined.

It began with the light, the sound, and the feeling. The senses were tantalized and the people on top of the wall all felt a peculiar shock of electricity shoot up their spine. Everything moved so slowly for them, they gathered information at such a rate but were met with only confusion. There were no answers yet. It was a mystery and, with the minority who recognized the sound, it was a _bad_ mystery.

It first came to be that Armin, on the wall, ready though terrified for action, heard the sound and felt the shock. It met them like a shockwave, washing over those closest to ground zero before steadily moving on as a wave of terror.

There was nothing more jarring in this moment, nothing that could make this event in all their lives any more horrifying. This was their belief; this was due to lack of imagination.

Eren was long gone, off to the other side of the wall in _hopes_ to patch the wall with the boulder he _hoped_ he could lift, with people he _hoped_ he could trust, and who _hoped_ he is trustworthy in return. With the inner wall gate the soldiers made noise and attracted as much of the titans loose in the city as they could as a distraction, giving Eren and his team long enough to block the gate and return alive.

Good news in this world was sparse, if they could do this, everything would be worth it. To prove they could and to prove that there was hope for the future; that it worked.

The last time this sound was heard had been the near fatal decision to fire cannons at Eren, Armin, and Mikasa. When in order to protect his friends and himself Eren called upon his titan form to block the cannon fire. It was not even half formed, but the point remained the same. Eren can form a titan around him. The sound, light, and shockwave was the same and while they expected it to happen again when Eren formed his titan again - it was not planned to be so close.

At this moment, when this familiar event came about, the soldiers atop the wall turned to one another in silent, confused terror. Some braved the edge and scanned the city, but only a few knew the answer they sought was not in front of them, but behind.

One of these people is Armin, who stood beside his superiors and soldiers he trained beside. Something had gone wrong, very wrong, and he needed to reach Eren and Mikasa. Whatever plan they had was derailing fast, yet this new feeling stopped him in his tracks.

Down the wall, dense and sturdy as ever, there was a rumble. It was steady, one and two, one and two- it got stronger every passing.

Armin, frozen in his tracks, saw nothing in the breached city and knew in his head it came from inside the walls. He did not want to face it, to turn around was to acknowledge this. As if somehow accepting this would make it so and denying it would change the result.

As dread set in and time ran short, Armin felt the final reverberating shake on the wall. A breeze came passed him, something had moved near him and he did not dare look.

Glancing around himself he saw other soldiers turn and gasp, a few falling backwards stunned. No one dared move an inch, the plan was in a delicate situation now more than ever. With this addition it seemed the plan was never going to succeed. Armin felt fear pierce his chest and sink into his belly. He gritted his teeth, the pain of terror too much to bear.

In a bout of brave foolishness he spun on his heel to see a hand just behind him. It was huge, long fingers, with nearly claw-like nails at the end. There was no real skin on the arms of this titan and when his eyes trailed up the arm the rest of the titan was just as curious.

It's body was still hanging off the edge of the wall, the muscles in the arm visibly pulling and tightening as it lifted its torso up the wall. The bony hips of the titan hit the side of the wall, the lower half not brought up the wall yet. It had long, blond hair with a nearly entirely skinless appearance. This titan has visible muscles and bone protrusions, ribs angled just above the sinew and unnaturally elongated bone jutting from only a few points in the body.

The face was not growling or frozen like most titans. It was animated, the facial features showing some kind of emotion on them. Though distorted through the long, animal-like teeth, the angular features, and skinless face; it appeared _concerned_. One brow was pulled upward and the other down, as if questioning them. Armin did not want to admit his interest in the titan, but when the titan's eyes looked to the people on the wall they found him and stared he could not find it in himself to move.

Holding the gaze of a titan was not something Armin could reconcile, the pressure was intense. No titan had figured out how to climb the wall before and Eren was the only person they knew could turn into a titan, however he felt close minded for assuming Eren was the only one.

The titan's hand lifted from in front of him and moved in an arch over his head. It paused just behind him, where it tapped gently against him, urging him to move. Not an action he would have expected, but the shock of light and thunderous sound of Eren bringing a titan around him was the same when this titan appeared. It told him this titan was no mere mindless human-eater. It was intelligent and it was someone on the inside of the walls.

Armin knew that this titan was a human, but he did not know if that made it friendly or not. Patiently the titan waited for Armin to follow its suggestion, displaying a friendly nature. It even offered its own attempt at a smile.

Shock, but his senses returning, Armin approached cautiously. His hands having unsheathed and readied his blades unconsciously. He was prepared, but scared. He would fight if he had to, if this titan showed any aggression. However, it seemed highly unlikely as it was welcoming Armin's approach by lowering its hand and leaning over the edge of the wall to bring its head closer to him.

The mouth remained shut, most likely to avoid creating any misunderstandings. When Armin neared the face, he was thinking of what to say to this sentient titan when they were interrupted by another soldier.

A bloodcurdling cry rang out, soldiers too trigger happy jumped the moment the titan lowered her head. The ODM gear fired to life and those who took the chance to attack fired at her, to get close enough to cut the nape like they were taught to.

The hook ends of the ODG cables pierced her skin, others scratched exposed bone before falling uselessly to the ground. When she felt the hooks they were no more painful than an insect bite, most she could not even feel. While fighting the soldiers was not going to happen she did need to defend herself. Her nape was her weak spot like any other wild, mindless titan.

Armin, watching this unfold and seeing the titan turn her head, jerking the cables immediately jumped into action. He knew this titan was not aggressive and was trying to reach him and he wanted to know why.

Before this could devolve, the titan used her hand to cover her nape and leaned back up. She was in a bad position, unable to defend herself or stop the soldiers both in fear of appearing like any other titan and because only her other hand and angle of her hips was keeping her on the wall.

"Wait, stop!" Armin's ODM gear fired into the titan, zipping him up to her back as he saw the others attempt to get by her hand.

He put his blades away and waved his arms, trying to catch their attention. Panic and the human fight or flight survival instinct meant they did not see nor hear him from that far away. It was not intentional, but they attacked anyways and their blades sliced into her hand.

In response, through her knuckles tore the sinew were bones to break their weapon's ability to cut. The next blade that came in contact with the bones put an inch deep cut into the bone, but no more. Cutting through the bone was not possible and they did realize this. Not before another soldier appeared to stop them while Armin approached the nape.

"That's enough!" A man approached, his feet landing on the titan's hand, raised his blade to the next incoming soldier. In his surprise the soldier broke off the attack and went swinging around the titan, his cables causing him to hang just over the shoulder. The other two soldiers saw the man's interruption and Armin arrive beside him as a hint to stay away. Whatever was happening, this titan was not their enemy.

The trigger happy soldiers did not realize any titan could be friendly, but they saw his clearly annoyed expression and ceased all assault on the titan.

Her arm shook, she was balancing barely on the edge of the wall and was silently thankful to her fellow soldiers for stopping the others. Armin and the man now standing on the back of her hand still covering her nape, came to discuss what this titan was here for.

"You seem like you know what the hell is going on." The soldier spoke with a glare focused on Armin.

Shaking his head, Armin glanced to the bone spikes from the knuckles of the titan. "How would I know? This titan just... _appeared_." Armin defended, "It seemed like it knew me. It looked at me and I think it wanted me to come to it and when I did, they attacked."

"This titan came from inside the wall." He sighed, tiredly, already too stressed handling the plans with Eren and the distraction teams. "Who was inside the wall that you know and that knew you would be up here?" He and Armin looked up to the back of the titan's head, curious.

The body of the titan slipped off the edge, the little support it had giving way. The edge of the wall came up to her mid stomach, still trying to keep desperate balance. The hand began to move and bring itself back down to the wall carefully, knowing the two were still secured with their ODM gear to he back of her hand. Jostled, but safe the two let the titan lower them back to the wall and she was able to keep herself on the wall and lift herself back up safely.

The soldier was about to hop off the hand, his eyes not leaving the titan's head. He tried to understand who this was before Armin grabbed his upper arm while he was in mid jump. Armin's expression was pure bewilderment before he cracked an almost sad smile. "I know who it is."

Giving a look to the titan, who appeared to return it, the man's own hand gripped Armin's shoulder. "Who is it?"

"We all know her. She just found me first is all." Armin offered, looking back up to the titan above them.

He assumed if someone he knew _was_ able to turn into a titan that he would have known. Yet as his eyes focused on the female titan's face, the expression changing to a softer look, a smile, long straight blond hair obstructing her face. He saw her face and imagined it with skin, full lips, and her sharp eyes. It was as if she were there before them, human.

"She stayed behind, she was hurt; she said it was fine and she could help. That she needed to..." Armin was stunned, smiling, but still amazed that Eren appeared as a titan and now, a newer friend joined him in his big reveal. "She can help us... We can use her! This is... hard, but we have to do this and she can help make sure this plan is a success."

"If she was a titan, why didn't she say anything?" He growled, turning to Armin. "Why wouldn't she have told us?"

Determined, Armin stared him down. "We can worry about why later, right now we need to worry about Eren and our mission. When we get this done and Eren gets the boulder to the gate we can talk; now I need to find out why things have gone wrong and she can help me." Armin stood straight, attempting to give more confidence off than he actually had. "We're finally ahead of the titans, let's keep it that way!"

The man gave a firm nod before turning to run down the wall, continuing his mission with his squad.

It was not long before Armin saw Pixis nearing the Titan, inspecting it without regards to _what_ it was. He was no where near as scared as his soldiers, but he was clearly ready for anything if this titan turned on them. Her eyes followed Armin's and saw Pixis looking up at her.

She leaned down again, allowing them both to approach her head so she could hear them and speak with them.

"Isn't this interesting." Pixis spoke to Armin directly, but meant for the titan to hear him as well. "How have we managed this luck? Two titans on our side. At least, I hope this one is on our side - otherwise it's a bad titan just sitting there."

"Commander!" Armin saluted, a momentary glance to where Eren's squad fired the _mission failure_ flare. "Yes, this titan is a friend of ours. One of the recruits that graduated with us. She's on our side."

"I know what you intend to do, taking her to find out what had happened to the squad. It looks like you're in luck!" Pixis gestured to the titan overlooking them, "You might just have the answer we need. We need to make sure that Eren gets that boulder to the gate and, if he cannot do it - maybe she can."

Armin looked at the titan, his friend, and felt her frame though approximately the same size as Eren's titan was thinner. Unlikely she would be able to lift such a dense and massive object. He doubted that she could do it, but still needed to find Eren and was running out of time. "Yes sir, that was my intent. I was going to take her to Eren and find out what we could do to fix what went wrong."

"Then go, I will dispatch two more squads to distract other titans in the area. It will give you the opening you need." Pixis pointed to the grassy paths along the wall, "There are titans there so I would suggest you be careful not to draw too much attention."

"Right, we'll watch our backs." Armin saluted, "We won't let you down, Commander!"

Pixis smiled, "I certainly hope not, humanity might depend on this day." He turned, his own team behind him, he left Armin and the titan to go. He had allowed Eren to let his titan ability loose and in this tense situation, if he could get more help he would take it. This additional titan was not planned but could prove useful to them all. Letting Armin and this new titan help Eren and his squad secure this missions success was worth the risk involved.

Aside from the risk of this titan being or becoming aggressive, it had shown self control and restraint when attacked. It was not their enemy and he would leave that be. This war was long and hard, it was only getting worse.

Armin, thankful for this chance, looked to the titan and fired his ODM gear. The cables pulling him up to the titan's left shoulder, he braced for the titan to move. "Eva!" He saw her head turn and felt her body perk hearing her name, "We have to find Eren! He's on the far side just follow the wall, I'll tell you when to stop!"

Eva lifted herself higher, her legs raising her off the edge of the wall finally and the soldiers moved out of the way. Her feet crunched some wooden planks and metal bars beneath her. She came to the inside of the wall, looking over the edge. It was a long way down, the titans at the bottom were gnawing the air and grasping for things well out of reach.

She took it easy and slid carefully off the inside edge of the wall, using her hands to help steady her speed as she fell. Her fingers dug into the stone of the wall, just enough to barely scratch the surface and cause her to fall a slight bit slower, the titan below would cushion her landing, but she still needed to be careful.

When she met the bottom, the titan below them buckled underneath her and fell, broken to the ground. She fell forwards her hands bracing for impact as her body hit the ground. _Not the most smooth of exits, but we're alive._ Armin, holding on for dear life, sighed in relief when she stood again. They were inside the wall and it was more dangerous than ever.

She began to walk along the wall, " _This... way_?" She growled out, pointing to the direction she assumed.

While surprised to hear her utter words of any nature, confirmed her question and she began to run to their target. He was glad his ODM kept him in place, he just had to ride her shoulder until they arrived at the park where Eren's squad was heading. He had no idea what went wrong, but it was itching in his mind.

Thinking of his friends, whom he considered family for the longest time, he was also intrigued by Eva. She was never active, never spoke much; she was reclusive and insisted on her privacy. He used to wonder about her and what she was doing all the time alone or why she wanted to be alone constantly. Armin knew she was social once they all made their decisions to join the Scouts, she wanted to form trust and bonds that could help their allies through tough battles and know when it was time to leave someone behind.

Now he wondered if this was the reason all along. She has this titan ability, was she like Eren or something else entirely?

"Eva..." He started, finding this moment the best and most private opportunity he might get for a long time. He knew she heard him when her pupil focused on him before looking back to their path.

"I don't know you that well and I know you said you don't know much about yourself..." Armin took a deep breath, "You seem like you know what you're doing. The fact that you turned into a titan and climbed the wall, got my attention, and listened tells me you already knew you had this ability. Like you turned into a titan intentionally, but Eren didn't know and I know he had no idea he had this ability." He continued, kneeling on her shoulder and gritting his teeth.

"I don't know how this thing works, how becoming a human and a titan at will works. I don't know how many _other_ people there are like you and Eren and I don't know how to explain this to everyone." He admitted this ignorance, "But I know I trust you and you trusted me to not attack you on sight. You came to us after graduating to cadets, you seemed understanding... I want to say that I get it, I get why you'd want to hide this. When they found out about Eren you saw what happened and you were willing to attack the captain for it! If that's not loyalty I don't know what is. Just... if we get out of this, _when_ we get out of this you have to tell me everything. Please."

Armin opened his eyes, not remembering when he closed them. He felt a tightness in his chest as he spoke and when the memory of Eva launching herself at the captain to protect Eren, himself, and Mikasa was fresh in his mind. She would have faced severe punishment for such an action, regardless of what happened with them. She risked her neck for them and fought like an animal in a corner.

He realized from the wound she had earlier that she did that to herself. The wound was straight and the same length of their blades. Her explanation _better the titan's fingers instead of her life_ told him enough. In order to survive she mangled her own body, risking a slow death bleeding out if she ever made it out in the first place. This tenacity was proof of her determination and how fierce she would fight to survive.

"I don't know how much of what you've told us was the truth. I want to believe it is, but this is a big secret and I would understand trying to cover it up, I do! Just... how much was lies to cover the truth and how much did you actually tell us?" Armin ran a hand through his hair, "Do you even trust us?"

" _Everything._ " Her voice, a bit clearer, broke his thoughts. " _Shiganshina... not lying._ " It was visibly not easy to speak for her.

"So you are from Shiganshina?" Armin offered a half grin, pleased to hear it. He felt it was the truth and she would not further the lies if needed. She lied to survive, if she did lie at all.

She bared her teeth, " _No._ " Her reply made Armin's eyes shoot up to her face, " _Not from- born._ "

"What?" Armin looked ahead of them, "Wait, stop!"

Eva slid to a halt, dirt and rocks kicked up by her sudden stop. She stood straight and surveyed the area, no titans were in sight. The distraction teams were doing their jobs well enough to give them the chance to move forward. She assumed they stopped as they reached their destination and sure enough, Armin pointed her to the grassy clearing with what appeared to be a clock tower.

"There, that's where they are!" She followed the path to the park area that had steam pouring from it. There were ruins around it and the boulder was clear as day with steam coming off the far side of it. It was titan steam, glittering with embers fading into the sky. It was not a good sign.

She broke into a sprint, her feet crushing any small delicately crafted human objects below. When they entered the steam they could see Mikasa fighting off another titan. When Armin looked down to the boulder there sat Eren's titan, hands crunched and steam raising from them. What was alarming was his face, his head was giving off the most steam and he was not moving.

"Eren!" Armin used his ODM gear to jump from Eva's shoulder to Eren's back. He tried his best to find some signs Eren was alright. His titan was giving off steam and not dissolving so it told them he was alive, just unconscious if anything.

Eva, leaving Armin to his friend, ran to help Mikasa fend off the titans coming for Eren. She knew wild titans would attempt to attack her, to eat her like any other human. So to them Eva and Eren were different and they could tell that. She had to fight while she was down here too, while she could survive better and longer than any regular human, but without the others support she would be trapped down here with countless wild titans. Even she could not survive that.

She came at the titan with speed and a closed fist with bone blades reeled to strike. When the titan turned to look at her, hearing her footsteps behind it, she struck its face. The force of the punch cracked its skull in, the bones on her fist shredded the skin until there was barely anything left. The neck snapped and, when exposed to her, she jumped on top of the titan and sunk her teeth into the nape.

The flesh was torn from the nape and the titan fell dead, burning steam. She spat out the flesh and turned to see Mikasa standing on a building beside her who was staring as they did when they found Eren in the titan.

" _Mik-asa._ " She offered a smile, the sharp teeth likely made it seem less sincere. Hearing her name from the titan was incredibly disarming, she had no idea what to think, but she felt more comfortable seeing the titan turn back to Eren and gesture Mikasa to follow.

Though the appearance of this new titan was jarring, Mikasa was far more concerned with Eren and when she saw Armin on his back, she leaped into action. Using her ODM gear to swing through the buildings to the boulder Eren was rested against. "Armin, get back! It's not safe!" She saw him turn, confusion evident on his face. "It all went wrong, he lost control and attacked. He hurt himself and he fell like that. Hasn't moved since."

Eren had lost control of his titan side and rampaged however briefly before falling against the boulder. The steam made it difficult to see the extent of damage to his face and hands, but with his titan healing he would be up again soon. Armin had to make sure the next time Eren stood up, he was on their side.

"Armin!" Mikasa stepped forward, far too cautious to jump onto the massive titan. She would not get too close after the attack he made on her, she did not fancy being eaten by her family today.

"Mikasa, go!" Armin felt confidence in himself rise up, he was never so sure before but he knew he had to try. "We have to get Eren back, it's our only chance. Go protect Eren, I'm going to get through to him!"

She shook her head, but could no argue the point. They needed Eren to be in control else this was all for nothing. Instead of trying to convince Armin to get to a safe distance, she turned on her heel and swung away. The titan right behind her, she swung around it, not stopping to question who or what it was doing there. The only time they had needed to be spent guarding the area and giving Eren the chance he needed.

Eva, interested in seeing Armin's plan, was going to remain nearby when he looked directly at her. He wanted her to go with Mikasa to stop the titans and Eva agreed, she would be more useful fighting than watching Armin try to talk to Eren.

Reluctantly, Eva let them be and focused on the task at hand. There were titans approaching and every road was blocked with them. Mikasa was already hard at work, flying through the rooftops and through the arms of flailing titans. She reeled up and struck a narrow titan down, the body collapsing to the stone street below taking a part of the building beside it down.

Mikasa swung away safely, she was a terror in the skies for the titans and Eva planned to be the same. She's out now, holding back won't help anyone or spare her suspicion. Now was the time to show them the damage she could do, bones, teeth, and claw.

With a pitched banshee-esque screech, she lowered herself to all fours and recalled the fear she inflicted on people. She would do the same for the titans, she wanted them to run from her.

Breaking off into a gallop, she leaped onto a titan beside Mikasa and tore it down. Her bony protrusions tearing the titan's flesh like paper. She spared nothing and shredded the nape until the titan stopped squirming. It was easy to kill a titan, it was hard to kill an experienced human solider. She remembered chasing down civilians and eating them by the handfuls, but the soldiers were tougher and with their current training in response to Shiganshina; they would all be stronger.

She was glad to have the opportunity to turn this city into a reverse Shiganshina. This time the titans would be torn apart; she had a purpose.

Climbing the buildings, she swung her clawed hands at other titans too short for the towers. It was harder for Mikasa to take out the smaller titans, they were too close to the buildings and offered minimal room to fly around them. Especially considering the larger, long armed titans nearby just waiting for the soldiers to swing low. In order to give Mikasa the openings she needed, Eva began to crush the heads of the smaller titans.

She navigated the streets on four legs around the park with the boulder, Eren, and Armin. The smaller titans did not stand a chance against her strength. Though she did not command the sheer bodily strength Eren did, she was faster and sharper. Eva had control and used her knowledge to tear through titans with minimal risk. She took the small ones by the head and cracked their skulls against the ground below before tearing through the nape.

Mikasa went high, using the clear skies as her advantage over the taller titans. They were unable to reach her and her natural talent with her blades and ODM gear only made it that much easier for her. Without the smaller titans to interrupt her swings around the taller titans, she was able to cut through their numbers.

Each one was a challenge in their own way; longer arms, long hair, a bent neck, or a hunched body all changed how she planned her attack. Quick on her feet, Mikasa was able to adjust her strategy in mid flight, sparing no time to double guess her decisions or question her resolve. She dedicated herself to a plan and her confidence paved the way.

Occasionally Eva would cross with a taller titan before Mikasa raced in the air above her to clear her way. It was seamless teamwork, the two made a plan of action without uttering a word and executed it in perfect timing with one another. Had Commander Pixis been there to see it he would have been impressed. Had anyone from their recruit days been there, they would be in awe.

Mikasa's gift with her gear and Eva's agility made for the perfect tag team. Together they cut through titans by the dozens and Eva would be lying if she said she was not enjoying it.

Her life as a titan, long or short, was one of a hellish existence. Now, as a human she felt she could make up for the people she ate, the people she tore apart in front of their families, and the soldiers she broke. There were people, children who survived, family and friends who would remember her face in their nightmares shattering their lives and destroying everything they held dear.

They would remember her teeth shredding the man, woman, or child they mourned for. It was not a quick death, it was also slow, terrifying, and wracked in agony. She had never felt the pain of it before, never suffered through the loss; she only felt a deep, burning guilt.

Here is where she was free to do what she wanted to do, to kill the monsters she felt a part of. She felt more titan than human and she wanted to draw that line in the sand. Human or titan, she would fight for the cities, families, and survival of humanity regardless of who or what she is.

It felt good feeling the titans bleed and die in her hands, it feel gratifying. Her acts against them solidified her position with humanity. If they sought to punish her for her years as a mindless titan, murdering innocents; she would accept it. So long as she had the chance to defend what was left of mankind and give back after all the damage she caused.

Mikasa, above her, was zeroed in on Eren and Armin. Something had happened and resulted in Eren's titan form moving. She did not know what Armin did or what he was planning, but Eren was moving again and she hoped he was in control this time. For everyone's sake.

It was far more surprising to see Eren move. He was not attacking, he was facing the boulder. _It worked..._ Eva grinned. Armin had managed to wake Eren up and get him back in control. They were moving along with the plan and it was time to push harder against the titans.

Eva stood up, seeing no titans close enough to worry about. She faced Mikasa who was staring at Eren's titan form pulling the boulder. It was incredible strength and power to lift it, but he was giving it all he had and the boulder was budging.

Eva reached her hand out in front of Mikasa, she jumped at the sight of it before realizing it belonged to the titan from before. The hand was a mangled itself, steam rising from the cuts when it was bitten and broken bones when she hit too hard. The titan remained still attempting not to startle Mikasa further and with the addition of Armin swinging onto the titan's forearm, Mikasa got the idea.

With Armin and Mikasa on her, she turned to face Eren and saw the only way out of the park large enough to allow him to pass. It was a direct route to the gate, exactly where he needed to go.

The boulder was lifted with a howl from Eren. Old broken stones and dirt fell from around it, the boulder cracked as much as Eren felt he was under the weight. His body was visibly tense, the muscles as tight as could be with the boulder resting on his shoulders.

Eva took initiative and followed the path first, going ahead of Eren. When he saw her he was concerned about this equally sized titan ahead, but noticed Mikasa and Armin with it. He did not stop to question or drop the boulder to fight, he had to press on and he felt if he dropped the boulder now he would not be able to pick it back up. The stress was intense and pushed his strength to the limit, but Eren was driven to work through it.

"Eva! We have to clear the gate area, look!" Armin was looking behind them, seeing a collection of titans turning to see Eren's approach. It was bad, there was a lot and nothing for the soldiers to swing around to dodge the titan's attacks. If they attacked these titans, they would be out in the open, exposed with no where to go and no way to escape.

It would be a slaughter, but this is where she would shine. It would not be easy, she was already stressed over the titans before. Though Mikasa and Eva cleared them out much easier than most others could have done, Eva was riddled with bites, cuts, and tears. Her steam was putting off a pillar into the air, her body just began to feel strain.

She had gone much longer in more dire circumstances before, but there was something causing her more than the usual amount of stress. Eva fought to protect herself and now others around her, others that she could accidentally kill if she swung too hard, tripped, or failed to account where they were. The danger of killing more innocent people even by accident frightened her, she was constantly on edge making sure her every movement did not cross paths with a soldier.

"It's too open..." Mikasa voiced her concern, not knowing Eva was thinking the same. "We have to help them. We have to get out there before the titans get too close to Eren!"

Eva looked down to the small human in the palm of her hand. She thought of how easy it would be to crush her just by closing her hand. _A disturbing thought_. She surprised herself with her willingness to imagine such a sight. It made her feel powerful, but she knew Mikasa was just as dangerous as any rampaging titan.

Distracted momentarily, Eva agreed to Mikasa's urging. It would not be easy and it would be painful, but Eva was ready. She reached out her arm to the roof beside them and let them dismount. With a single nod, she entered the clearing around the gate. It was not too large for the titans, but would be massive for the humans. The ODM gear could reach far and grant them the ability to fly freely through the city, but even it had limitations.

In this way Eva was not limited. She could run, attack, and kill titans in the clearing better than any of the soldiers. Only now she had to do it alone, against a large number of titans, while defending another titan who was unable to defend himself. A tricky situation, but it was one she chose herself.

It was time to go.

During Eva's approach to the gate clearing, Mikasa and Armin rejoined the squads on the rooftops just around the edges of the clearing. It was the squad that Mikasa and Eren were with when the plan started, they had been fighting off titans in the surrounding area, away from Eren for safety but still securing the area in case he returned.

Sure enough he did and the boulder was evidence of this. Eren was doing his job and they would continue to do theirs. Only with refreshed vigor seeing Eren and the boulder near the gate, they fought harder than before to make sure even with their current losses, the mission would succeed and be the first time humanity beat the titans.

This historic moment would be written about for generations. The first victory of humanity against the titans. Their names would be immortalized, but more importantly humanity would prove it could survive even against the odds.

Eva, standing between Eren and the wild titans, certainly attracted the attention of the other soldiers nearby. Everyone wondering what this titan was doing, why it was facing off against the others. Though this time around was not as shocking to them, it was still a sight to see. This titan, like Eren, was larger than the average titans and displayed more noteworthy features.

It was recognizable, but the sight of her did not sway everyone and before Eva could plan for it the hooks of ODM gear pierced into her hide again. Some soldiers thought she was another wild titan and were ready to fight. It was admirable if a bit misplaced.

Careful of their swings Eva covered the nape of her neck with one hand and waited for the right swing. Mikasa and Armin too far away without any building to get them closer to her just watched as she stood patiently.

When the soldier swung around in front of her, she reached her free hand out and caught him. She moved her hand with his path to make sure the contact stopping him would not result in injury. When he was still in her hand, he panicked. The ODM gear unhooked from her body and reeled back into place.

She uncovered her neck and held the soldier out to the side, closer to the buildings. Close enough to hook onto the tower and swing away. Taking the opportunity he jumped from her hand and swung to safety, it was not hard to grasp this titan was not wild. This display showed them enough and they picked up on the situation. Just like they had done when Eren's titan appeared, they let her do her own thing.

The titans neared and Eva jumped, landing on her hands and feet, she rammed the titan in front of all the others. The titan fell back from the hit and tripped up a few others, giving her the time to grab two by the necks and crack them. Her bone claws shredding the nape until dead.

Another titan came up to her, mouth hanging wide open, it grabbed her arm and meant to sink its teeth it. She took it by the matted hair and bent it's head back, biting the nape of its neck and dropping it to the ground.

She jumped ahead again, turning to the group and leaping into them, landing on two titans who did not offer much resistance. She dug into their necks, decapitating one and nearing the other's neck apart. It was not dead, but it would not be getting up soon.

More titans surrounded her and she felt a little more boxed in. These ones were larger than the smaller ones she had been trying to weed out, it was beginning to feel like she was in a tight spot.

Instead of trying to jump from titan to titan to kill them all, she forced more bone to jut from her hands and joints, creating this sharp, jagged look. It also gave her the ability to hurt these titans just by being too close to her. It could give her the advantage with so little room to work with.

Reeling to punch another titan, the elongated, sharp bone from her elbow tore across the chest of a titan behind her. The fist ripped the jaw of the titan in front of her clean off before the titan fell over, steaming. The one behind her collapsed over her back, it's jaw biting into her shoulder. With a terrible howl of pain, her right hand came up and the bone claws cut open its nape.

The body went limp atop her and pressed her down. It was far too heavy and as she attempted to move it another titan grabbed her arm, its teeth gnawing away at her flesh. She tugged her arm away, the sinew of he forearm being torn away to reveal the bone beneath it.

She raised her hand and brought it down on the feeding titan, the bone spike in her hand cutting the nape evenly. When that titan fell beside her, she took the chance to shake the dead titan off her back.

More surrounded her, shadows overcast her. She felt trapped, her bones stretched and her body beginning to ache. While she had survived in her titan form for days at a time, this was painful, being torn to pieces by other titans. She never lost to a wild titan before and while she had been bitten, broken a bone, or was caught off guard by a wild titan; never before had she been shredded so severely.

She was very good at surviving and being good at surviving meant never getting caught, picking and choosing her battles; she played it safe and smart. This was not safe, smart, or a battle she would have chosen.

A few titans were no threat, but so many, so densely packed together, all aiming for her. This was trouble.

Another titan from behind her took its chance to tackle her back as she tried to stand. Shaken off balance Eva fought to remain on her feet struggling to take a step away and stab the titan off her. In her fight, another titan followed its kin and wrapped itself around her hips, pulling her to the ground with the additional weight she attempted to twist her body around to stop the titan from biting a chunk out of her lower ribs.

The titan further down her torso opened its mouth and bit into her hip bone, its teeth gritting on the sharp bone there. The bite and grinding of bone caused her to scream out in pain, she could not hold it in anymore. She was stuck and it was excruciating being eaten alive.

Her hand pressed against its forehead, but the titans arms were firmly wrapped around her waist, its mouth open and drooling. It had eyes for her body and it was going to stop for nothing to get it. Tugging her other arm free of her own body weight, she tried to stab the nape with her spiked knuckles, but was in no position to reach properly. Eva pushed against the titan that only tightened its grip.

This situation had devolved from bad to worse. She feared being eaten was a very real possibility now, whereas she feared severe injury before. As she struggled to get free, more titans came about her, leaning, kneeling, and crawling to her. They were ready to feast.

She threw a punch at the closest titan she could, knocking it back but not freeing her from their clutches. The one eating her hip, the other trying to eat her ribs, and more approaching to finish her off; she did not feel it was looking so promising anymore.

Her hand pressed against the chest of another titan bearing down on her, trying to aim for her neck. Her other hand firm against the forehead of the one around her waist. Her left leg trying to kick away the titan around her hips and her right calf being chewed by two smaller titans, tearing the muscle apart.

Eva was shredded, damaged, the muscle she needed to free herself was being eaten away. She ran out of strength, out of resistance to the inevitable. If she went out like this it was for a good cause.

 _Maybe I should've paid more attention in hand-to-hand combat training._ She grinned weakly, the biting titans jaws just above her and closing in. Her strength waned and it got closer with every push.

 _Thought maybe I'd die being a hero._ Eva grunted, feeling the teeth of the titan around her waist just beginning to bite into her ribs. _I wonder if this counts. At least Eren will make it, the city will be reclaimed from the titans. I just hope the Colossal Titan doesn't kick in that giant rock. I wonder if he could even if he tried..._

Eva's breath hitched when she felt the titan's jaws bite into her ribs, the teeth finding the first bone it could to break. The titan at her neck bit into the right side, just above her collarbone. Her clawed hand carved lines into the titan, but was met with no hesitation.

She closed her eyes and tried to resist her instinctual fear to cry and scream. If she was to die here she would do it without giving them the satisfaction.

It was not until two blades sliced the neck of the titan biting into her neck did she feel the tides were changing. The titan went limp and fell just above her head, freeing her arm. The titan around her hips was jumped by Armin, who dashed its nape and swung away. It was hard to use nothing but other titans as support, but they could not find it in themselves to watch her die.

Eva raised her arms, giving both Mikasa and Armin something to hook onto with their ODM gear. Mikasa took the chance first, using Eva's arm to swing around, giving her enough momentum and the best angle to cut the nap of the one eating her ribs. When it was dead and fallen, Eva forced her aching, bleeding body to sit up and grabbed onto Mikasa's cables to make sure the slack did not cause her to crash.

Eva smashed the heads of the smaller titans at her legs. Armin zip lined up to her shoulder as Eva brought Mikasa up to her opposite shoulder. With those titans dead and others distracted, Eva pushed herself onto her hands and knees, panting in exhaustion and trying desperately to psych herself up to fight again.

When she finally managed to stand on her own two feet again, Eva faced the titans chasing the soldiers on the ground. She was weak, unable to fight as hard as she had done. Instead, she gave the perfect position for Mikasa and Armin to use her like a building. With her arms out to the side and standing tall, they flew around Eva's body to attack the titan in front of her.

Mikasa easily dispatched the slow titan before returning to roost on Eva's right forearm with Armin. Eva turned her sights to the few other titans trying to eat in the clearing, Eren was almost to the gate, it was time to make sure no one else died.

Eva approached another titan, grabbing it by the throat and allowing Armin to run down her arm and slice the nape open. The titan's head and body came apart in her hands. She took the head in her other hand and aimed for the titan on the far side of the clearing grabbing at a man on the ground. She pulled back, aimed carefully, and threw the head directly into the side of the titan's face. The force of the throw knocked the titan to the ground, giving the man enough time to escape.

Armin, Mikasa, and Eva continued their rampage through the clearing. Eva felt like a moving tower of death for the titans. She was deadly enough to the titans, but with Armin the natural strategist and Mikasa the natural soldier, there was no titan they could not cut down.

With a thunderous roar the earth shook beneath their feet and the day had been won. Eren had dropped the boulder in front of the gate, firmly against the wall. It was completely blocked off and no more titans could enter the city.

Titans were still inside of course and this threat was not over yet. Eva began to walk to Eren, limping and slow from her torn apart legs and body. When she neared Eren's titan form, slumped on the ground and not moving, Armin and Mikasa jumped off Eva and ran to Eren.

Armin was the first to climb Eren's titan body, quickly jumping up to the nape knowing Eren would be there. More titans closed into the clearing, they were all far too weak, tired, and low on gas to fight them off. With the mission completed and a victory for humanity won, it was time to escape to fight another day. Eva turned around to see titans nearing them and readied herself to defend them.

"He's so hot, I can't believe it." Armin was already in the process of pulling Eren free of the dead titan body. "We need to get up the walls... part of his body is fusing with the titan. I can't pull him out.

"We'll have to cut him out."

Eva was not looking at what was going on behind her, she was mostly concerned with the titans around them and _not_ being eaten again. She saw titans near them and began her defense, she struck one in the face and bit into its neck. The other she jump-tackled into and crushed the neck below the heel of her palm. When more neared them she knew they had to leave now.

When another came at her running, she braced herself for impact. Digging her feet into the ground, the titan rammed into her. The bone spike on her elbow and shoulder sank into the titan immediately and she lifted it up, grunting under the weight, and tossed it to the ground behind her. She turned and brought her spiked elbow down into its neck, severing the head and nape.

Struggling again to stand up, the steam coming from her body marked her healing, but she was not healing fast enough to account for the injures while fighting. More titans neared and she knew she had to grab them before anything happened.

Eva turned back to them, seeing Armin catching Eren from a fall down the dead titan's back. Mikasa and another soldier was near, anxious to get off the ground.

She reached out and Mikasa climbed into her hand, the other soldier seemed not to care at this point and followed suit. With her other hand, Eva reached to pick up Armin and Eren.

Were it not for a titan jumping her from behind. The titan held onto her neck and bit into the back of her left shoulder. It was pleased with its efforts and Eva had to rely on the soldiers to fight it.

Before Mikasa, Armin, or the other pale haired soldier could do anything, the titan on her back and killed instantly by another soldier who swung down from the wall above. Eva reached again for Armin just as this soldier came bearing down on her.

"No, stop!" Mikasa called out first, but did so far too late. Eva realized there was a problem and reached her hand up to cover the nape of her neck just as the soldier slashed into her.

The blades tore through her fingers and Mikasa held her breath.

Eva's eyes faded and her arm went limp. Two of her fingers were severed, the only two that made it in time to cover her neck. Underneath though showed it had not been enough. Her nape was sliced open, steam came pouring from the wound, and her body fell to the ground below.

Eva blacked out, the pain forcing her unconscious. No one had ever made it so close to killing her before, nothing like that. The slash to the nape of her neck caused her body to light up in agony and shock to overcome her senses.

When her titan form fell to the ground, Mikasa and Rico ran to jump off of the falling titan body before getting hurt. When Eva's body hit the ground, Mikasa and Armin stared in disbelief. There was no way for this soldier to have known this titan was not trying to eat them, the act was faultless.

"Eva!" Armin called first, Eren still in his arms. Mikasa felt a jolt up her spine and ran up the limp body of Eva's titan form. The soldier stood on the hunched shoulder and watched curiously as Mikasa ran to the neck of the titan. He had no idea what was happening, why they appeared concerned over the titan, but he was interested.

Mikasa, standing above the nape, peered into the open wound and saw Eva still inside. In her panic to help her new friend, she reached inside the wound and grabbed onto Eva's cadet corps jacket. The man approached to see what Mikasa was doing and, though he would not admit it, was shocked when he saw what she was reaching for. There was a human inside the nape of the titan.

He opted to help Mikasa free the person inside, taking his blades and opening the wounds further. Mikasa stepped inside the internals and hooked her arms under the person's arms. She lifted and pulled with all her strength, lines of sinew snapping off the body.

He saw the jacket and realized this was a cadet. It was impossible, a human inside this titan, but there she was being torn from the internals of a titan. It had not been eaten by this titan, it was fused with the muscle.

Helping Mikasa free the woman again, he cut the woman free of the sinew. The snap of muscle tissue revealed the woman's face. She was blond, a cadet, with sharp features. He had never seen her before as far as he knew, so who was this person inside a titan?

Mikasa held Eva in her arms, Armin held Eren, more titans were coming. Eren was partially awake, swimming to and from unconsciousness. He saw enough, he saw the titan fall and the man from the Scouts land in front of them.

It was time to move with so many titans closing in on them.

Mikasa held Eva close and wondered if it was too late, if he had just killed their friend.


End file.
